THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


^~£0-t^*~- 


Xx.  s  t 


JOHN  B.  FINCH. 


His  LIFE   AND  WORK. 


FRANCES  E.  FINCH  AND  FRANK  J.  SIBLEY. 


FUNK   &  WAGNALLS,  PUBLISHERS. 

NEW   YORK :  1888.  LONDON  : 

l8   &   20  ASTOR   PLACE.  44    FLEET   STREET. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  iu  the  year  1888,  by 

FUNK  &  WAGNALLS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


TO 
MY  ONLY  CHILD, 

JOHN      DK  IvEON     KI 

"TRUE  PORTRAIT  OF  THY  FATHER'S  FACE," 

THIS    BOOK 

is 
LOVINGLY    DEDICATED. 

F.  E.   F. 


Be  good,  sweet  child,  and  let  rvho  will  be  clever  ; 

Do  noble  things^  not  dream  them,  all  day  long. 
So  shalt  thou  make  life,  death,  and  that  vast  forever 

One  grand,  sweet  song. 

KlNGSLHY. 


PREFACE. 


GRATEFUL  thanks  are  due  to  many  friends  for  their 
kindness  in  furnishing  facts  and  data  for  this  history  of 
John  B.  Finch.  The  father,  brothers,  and  sisters,  and  his 
boyhood's  school-mates  and  friends  have  been  especially 
kind  in  carefully  collecting  the  dates  of  events  in  his  early 
life. 

Loving  friends  of  his  later  years  have  laid  their  loyal 
tributes  of  affection  plenteously  on  the  altars  of  memory, 
and  poetry's  tenderest  strains  have  trilled  the  threnodies 
of  sorrow  over  the  silent  clay,  mingled  with  their  paeans 
of  gladness  for  the  beatitude  of  the  ascended  soul. 

These  votive  offerings  are  acknowledged  through  the 
pages  of  this  book,  and  are  woven  into  the  story  of  that 
great  life  of  patience  and  pain,  of  toil  and  triumph,  of 
devotion  to  duty,  that  placed  him  in  the  van  of  Jehovah's 
marching  squadrons  till 

"God's  finger  touched  him,  and  he  slept." 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

JOHN  B.  FINCH, Frontispiece. 

BIRTHPLACE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH, 

JOHN  B.  FINCH  AT  THE  AGE  OF  THIRTEEN, 

MRS.  JOHN  B.  FINCH, 33 

JOHN  B.  FINCH  AT  THE  AGE  OF  TWENTY-FOUR,    .        .        .        .37 
GOOD  TEMPLAR  MISSIONARY  TENT,     ......        83 

THE  BOSTON  CONFERENCE, 227 

RIGHT  WORTHY  GRAND  LODGE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE,          .      233 
NATIONAL  PROHIBITION  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE,          .        .        .  353 

THE  HOME  AT  EVANSTON,  ILL.,  381 

JOHN  D.  FINCH, 385 

THE  HOME  OFFICE^ 405 

THE  LYNN  AUDITORIUM, 411 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

SONNET,  "  JOHN  B.  FINCH,"  by  A.  A.  Hopkins xi 

INTRODUCTION,  by  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard xiii 

CHAPTER  I. 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 


CHAPTER  II. 
YOUNG  MANHOOD 13 

CHAPTER  III. 
BEGINNING  TEMPEKANCE  WOBK 27 

CHAPTER  IV. 
RED  RIBBON  WORK 46 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  GOOD  TEMPLAR  MISSIONARY  TENT 82 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  INCEPTION  OF  HIGH  LICENSE 106 

CHAPTER  VII. 
JOINT  DEBATES 142 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
GOOD  TEMPLAR  LEADERSHIP 207 

CHAPTER  IX. 
PROHIBITORY  AMENDMENT  CAMPAIGNS  . . 252 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X.  rAQB 

NO-LlCENSE   AND   OTHER   WORK 317 

CHAPTER  XI. 
TEMPERANCE  LITERATURE 340 

CHAPTER  XII. 
POLITICAL  LEADERSHIP .  349 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
HOME  LIFE 372 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
INCIDENTS  AND  CHARACTERISTICS ,,  391 

CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  LAST  JOURNEY 403 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
IN  MEMORIAM 446 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
GEMS  FROM  LETTERS  AND  SPEECHES 518 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
ADDRESSES  . 

An  Examination  of  the  Issues 525 

Examination  of  the  Issues  and  Defence 543 


JOHN   B.   FINCH. 

BY  A.  A.  HOPKINS. 

DEAD  in  his  splendid  prime, 

The  master  of  surging  speech  ; 
Silent  the  lips  that  were  strong  for  truth, 
Tender  and  touching  for  Home  and  Youth, 
Pleading  the  Cause  of  each. 

Dead  in  his  manly  grace, 

The  leader  we  loved  so  well, — 
Silent  his  form  at  the  battle's  fore, 
Still  are  the  hands  that  our  standard  bore 
Bravely  till  swift  he  fell. 

Dead  in  his  loyal  faith, 

The  friend  of  our  faithful  trust, — 
Hushed  is  the  heart  that  was  true  and  leal, 
Tender  the  touches  of  love  to  feel, 

Fading  so  soon  to  dust. 

Dead  at  the  conflict's  front, 

The  knight  who  could  know  no  fear; 
Silent  the  forces  he  led  to-day, 
Hushed  be  our  hearts  as  we  pause  to  lay 

Garlands  upon  his  bier. 


JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Orator,  friend,  farewell, 

Knight  of  the  Right,  good-by  ! 
Willing  to  fall  in  thy  splendid  prime, 
Fighting  for  God  and  His  Cause  sublime, 
Death,  like  a  neighbor,  nigh. 

Tears  for  the  Right,  bereft, 

Tears  for  the  knight  gone  down  !— 
Smitten  and  sore  in  the  battle's  brunt, 
He  has  but  won  at  the  surging  front 

Victory's  fadeless  crown  ! 


INTRODUCTION. 


IT  is  an  act  of  rare  heroism  and  royal  friendship  combined 
that  gives  us  temperance  people  the  present  volume. 

"  Out  of  my  stony  grief,  Bethel  I'll  raise,"  was  the  solemn 
thought  of  Mrs.  Finch  as  she  entered  upon  the  work  of  pre- 
paring this  memorial,  and  Brother  Sibley,  with  all  a 
brother's  kindness,  has  devoted  himself  to  the  sacred  task 
of  helping  her  whose  heart  was  hurt  so  sorely. 

We  who  sit  in  our  pleasant  homes,  turning  over  these 
attractive  pages,  must  read  between  the  lines  if  we  would 
know  how  much  more  is  meant  than  meets  the  eye.  We 
must  study  the  handsome  face  of  him  who  was  Prohibition's 
peerless  orator  ;  we  must  muse  upon  his  great  achievements 
and  his  generous  heart,  ponder  the  words  of  her  who  was 
his  life  companion  :  "  He  was  just  as  much  greater  at  home, 
than  is  the  average  man,  as  he  was  confessed  to  be  greater 
abroad  ;"  we  must  then  study  the  picture  of  his  lovely 
Refuge,  purchased  with  the  coinage  of  his  own  affluent 
brain,  and  then  think  what  it  was  to  sit  down  in  that  grief- 
enshrouded  home,  whose  firmament  was  robbed  so  ruth- 
lessly of  its  bright  particular  star,  and  try  to  tell  the  story 
of  the  past.  I  often  think  the  highest  proof  of  the  heart's 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

indestructibility  is  that  even  here,  clogged  by  the  flesh,  it 
can  bear  so  much  and  yet  not  break. 

As  a  man,  Mr.  Finch  was  to  his  friends  sweetness  and 
light,  to  his  foes  wormwood  and  gall.  As  a  leader,  he 
held  official  relation  to  one  million  temperance  men  and 
women — the  largest  number  ever  led  by  one  man.  His 
name  was  familiarly  spoken  in  eight  languages  by  his  ad- 
herents. He  was  Prohibition's  chief  logician.  His  sword- 
marks  are  in  every  State  where  the  fight  has  been,  and  his 
reply  to  D.  Bethune  Duffield,  in  the  Detroit  Opera  House 
last  spring,  has  not  been  matched  in  the  annals  of  temper- 
ance debate. 

Handsome,  graceful,  of  mellifluous  utterance  and  win- 
some manners,  good  gifts  were  lavished  on  his  birth  ;  his 
rnind  was  quick  as  lightning,  his  memory  magnificently 
stored,  his  will  invincible.  He  marshalled  argument  and 
pathos,  humor  and  fact,  sarcasm  and  illustration,  into 
phalanx  solid  as  the  Old  Guard. 

Elsewhere  among  these  pages  1  have  had  so  much  to  say 
of  the  life,  the  character,  and  work  of  our  departed  leader, 
that  further  mention  of  them  would  be  inappropriate  here. 
I  responded  to  Mrs.  Finch's  invitation  to  write  an  introduc- 
tion to  this  book  because  it  came  from  a  valued  friend  and 
comrade  in  the  temperance  army,  and  because  I  would  fail 
in  nothing  that  could  express  my  sisterly  regard  and  admi- 
ration for  him  who  passed  so  swiftly  beyond  the  reach  of 
earthly  praise  or  blame. 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

I  have  always  been  a  devotee  of  books  pertaining  to  biog- 
raphy. More  than  any  other  single  influence  outside  the 
hallowed  ministries  of  my  own  home,  the  reading  of  biog- 
raphy has  mortgaged  me  to  the  endeavor  to  lead  a  good 
and  helpful  life.  Doubtless  every  one  who  is  making  a 
similar  attempt  has  shared  a  similar  experience.  A  famous 
general,  on  being  asked  how  it  was  that  he  could  ride  up 
to  the  cannon's  mouth,  replied  :  "  At  first  1  could  not ;  it 
is  the  courage  of  having  done  the  thing."  Next  to  this  is 
the  courage  of  having  seen  that  a  thing  can  be  done  by 
some  one  else,  whereupon  Imagination,  the  angel  of  the 
mind,  seizes  upon  the  experience  of  that  other  and  makes  it 
one's  own.  Thus  may  many  an  untried  but  adventurous 
young  spirit  win  from  the  brave  and  regnant  life  of  John  B. 
Finch  the  courage  to 

"  Break  its  birth's  invidious  bar, 

And  grasp  the  skirts  of  happy  chance, 
To  breast  the  blows  of  circumstance, 
And  grapple  with  its  evil  star." 


KEST  COTTAGE,  EVANSTON,  ILL.,  January  1,  1888. 


THE   I^IFE   OF 

JOHN  B.  FINCH, 


CHAPTER  I. 

CHILDHOOD   AND    YOUTH. 

O  child  !  O  new-born  denizen 

Of  life's  great  city  !  on  thy  head 

The  glory  of  the  morn  is  shed 

Like  a  celestial  benison  ! 

Here  at  the  portal  thou  dost  stand, 

And  with  thy  little  hand 

Thou  openest  the  mysterious  gate 

Into  the  future's  undiscovered  land. 

Longfellow. 

The  childhood  shows  the  man, 

As  morning  shows  the  day. 

MUon. 

•YTTILLIAM  FINCH,  father  of  John  B.,  was  born  in 
'  *  Pitcher,  Chenango  County,  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  October  24th,  1819.  October  28th,  1844,  he  mar- 
ried Emeline  A.  Fox,  whose  home  was  in  the  adjoining 
township  of  Lincklaen,  where  she  was  born  February  10th, 
1825. 


2  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

The  father  and  mother  of  William '  Finch  were  born  in 
Schoharie  County,  N.  Y.  They  removed  to  the  western 
part  of  Chenango  County  in  1816,  and  passed  the  re- 
mainder of  their  lives  in  the  township  of  Pitcher. 

The  mother  of  Emeline  Fox,  though  of  Connecticut 
birth,  was  of  French  descent,  her  parents  having  emigrated 
to  America  only  a  year  or  two  previous  to  her  birth.  Her 
father  was  born  in  France,  came  to  America  about  the 
beginning  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  joined  the  Conti- 
nental Army,  and  fought  for  independence  till  that  memo- 
rable struggle  closed.  He  died,  aged  sixty-five,  in  Lincklaen, 
the  same  year  Emeline  was  born.  As  far  as  is  known,  all  the 
ancestors  of  William  Finch  and  Emeline  Fox  were  farmers. 

John  B.  Finch  first  saw  the  light  in  a  humble  farm-house 
in  his  mother's  native  town  of  Lincklaen,  March  17th, 
1852.  In  a  family  of  eight  children  he  was  the  third  son. 
With  that  matchless  beauty  of  language  which  makes  her 
lightest  word  a  poem,  Frances  Willard  said  : 

"He  had  the  happy  heritage  of  these  hard  conditions — 
obscurity  and  poverty.  But,  passing  by  the  palace  with  its 
cradled  princes,  Fortune  paused  within  his  humble  home 
and  emptied  out  her  horn  of  plenty  upon  that  royal  head." 

When  John  was  two  years  of  age  his  parents  removed  to 
Union  Valley,  the  adjoining  town  to  Lincklaen  on  the 
south-west.  Here  they  remained  for  nine  years.  Until  he 
was  twenty,  all  the  years  of  John's  life  were  passed  in  the 
quietude  of  farm  life,  ten  to  twenty  miles  from  the  railroad 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  3 

or  from  any  large  village.  Boys  and  girls  reared  on  the  farms 
among  the  rugged  hills  of  Chenango  County  had  few  oppor- 
tunities to  learn  by  actual  observation  of  the  great  world 
and  its  mysteries. 

An  occasional  excursion  to  neighboring  picnic  grounds  ; 
a  climb  up  some  rocky  ledge  ;  a  journey  to  a  hillside 
"  berry  patch  ;"  a  day's  angling  along  some  streamlet  or 
in  the  nearest  mill-pond  ;  a  hunt  that  never  resulted  in 
finding  game — these  were  the  principal  sports  that  fur- 
nished amusement  to  the  boys  among  whom  our  great 
worker  was  reared. 

At  three  years  of  age  he  suffered  a  severe  attack  of  scar- 
let fever,  which  left  the  body  feeble  and  the  constitution 
impaired.  As  he  developed  physical  vigor  so  slowly,  the 
pet  name  "  Bird,"  cooed  over  his  cradle  by  the  anxious 
mother,  seemed  peculiarly  appropriate,  and  no  other  had 
been  given  him,  till  one  day  he  surprised  the  family  by  the 
bold  declaration  : 

"Bird  ain't  no  good  name  fora  boy.  I'm  goin'  to  be 
named  John." 

This  quiet  assumption,  full  of  dignity  and  determination, 
so  won  the  brothers  and  sisters  that  they  immediately 
adopted  that  name  in  their  conversations  with  the  little 
brother,  and  even  the  father  and  mother  laughingly  and 
proudly  assented  to  that  addition  to  a  name  which  their 
bright  boy  was  destined  to  immortalize. 

Too  fragile  to  endure  the  labors  and  restraints  of  the 


4  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

school-room  or  tlie  rude  sports  of  the  plaj'-ground,  he  early 
learned  to  depend  much  upon  himself  for  amusement,  and 
to  find  in  the  books  his  mother  had  taught  him  to  read  that 
companionship  which  his  slender  strength  forbade  his  seek- 
ing among  the  children  of  his  years.  When  the  care- 
burdened  mother  could  catch  an  hour's  release  from  the 
ever-pressing  household  duties,  she  would  read  aloud  to  her 
pale,  delicate  boy,  lying  on  his  bed  and  listening  eagerly 
and  intently. 

The  slender  resources  of  the  family  would  not  permit  the 
purchase  of  a  supply  of  books  full  of  absurd  songs  and 
impossible  tales  supposed  to  be  adapted  to  childish  tastes 
and  capacity.  In  their  place  the  mother  and  the  boy  read 
such  books  of  history  and  biography  as  their  own  home 
afforded  and  the  neighbors  could  lend  to  them.  Fortunate 
poverty,  that  permitted  the  mind  to  be  filled  with  the  story 
of  great  lives  and  great  deeds  rather  than  with  the  rubbish 
of  some  dreamer's  fertile  imagination. 

The  father  and  mother  were  members  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church,  and  the  children  always  attended  Sunday- 
school,  either  the  Congregational  or  the  Methodist,  which- 
ever was  nearest  their  home  in  the  different  towns  in  which 
they  lived. 

The  mother's  deep  piety  permitted  no  neglect  of  Chris- 
tian teaching  in  those  long  vigils  by  the  bedside  of  her 
feeble  boy.  With  the  histories  of  modern  times  she  wove 
the  wondrous  story  of  God's  providences,  lingering  long 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.   FINCH.  5 

and  lovingly  by  the  manger-cradle  in  Bethlehem,  treading 
reverently  along  the  shores  of  Galilee,  and  weeping  by  the 
thorn-crowned  sacrifice  in  Gethsemane. 

At  the  age  of  ten  John  began  attending  the  country 
school  nearest  his  home.  But  the  foundation  for  his  educa- 
tion had  been  laid  long  before  by  the  loving  mother's  teach- 
ing— laid  so  deep  and  strong  that  the  school-room  and  the 
recitation  were  but  minor  incidents  in  the  search  for  that 
store  of  knowledge  which  he  was  bound  to  win.  For  four 
years  in  Union  Valley  and  Pitcher  he  continued  to  attend 
the  district  schools  near  his  home.  His  attendance  was 
often  sadly  interrupted  by  lack  of  suitable  clothing,  yet  he 
never  "fell  behind"  his  classes.  Lessons  were  never  so 
long  nor  so  difficult  that  he  failed  to  master  them.  A 
single  term  was  sufficient  for  his  accomplishment  of  the 
ordinary  work  of  two.  Teachers  wondered  when  and  how 
his  lessons  were  learned,  and  were  greatly  attracted  by  his 
quick,  almost  intuitive  perception.  Physical  feebleness 
was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  extraordinary  mental 
strength. 

The  years  of  home  seclusion  had  not  produced  timid  or 
retiring  habits  in  the  boy.  Just  as  his  whole  mind  was 
centred  on  his  school-room  tasks,  so  his  scant  physical 
strength  was  all  put  forth  on  the  play-ground.  His  com- 
panions said  he  was  inclined  to  be  "  masterful,"  but  they 
readily  accepted  his  dictation  when  they  found  that  it 
meant  new  and  unique  devices  for  their  amusement. 


6  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"With  the  impetus  of  these  sports  and  the  farm  labors  now 
frequently  required,  the  body  began  to  develop  more  vigor. 
The  intense  love  for  his  mother  which  had  been  nurtured 
during  the  years  of  her  tender  watching  over  his  sick-bed 
now  began  to  manifest  itself  in  outward  acts.  He  would 
thoughtfully  anticipate  her  requirements,  bringing  a  plenti- 
ful supply  of  wood  and  of  water,  and  relieving  her  of  many 
of  the  more  burdensome  household  tasks.  For  her  he  was 
never  too  weary  to  work,  his  feet  never  too  tired  to  run 
upon  errands. 

If  the  way  seemed  too  hard  to  the  young  soul  that  some- 
times must  have  longed  to  slip  the  leash  of  fate  and  break 
forth  into  the  realm  of  its  ambitious  dreams,  the  mother's 
smile  brought  back  the  sunshine,  of  content,  and  gilded 
every  cloud. 

One  year  at  the  district  school  the  brightest  boys  and 
girls  had  been  selected,  our  John  among  the  rest,  to  recite 
and  "declaim"  on  the  last  day  of  the  term.  His  shoes 
were  old  and  patched  and  worn,  and  he  very  much  desired 
a  new  pair  for  this  important  occasion.  Sore  at  heart 
because  of  the  stern  necessity  that  compelled  her  to  deny 
this  reasonable  demand,  the  mother  tenderly  turned  the 
boy's  thoughts  away  from  his  disappointment  with  the 
words  : 

"Never  mind,  Johnnie,  do  your  best,  and  they'll  look 
at  your  head,  not  at  your  feet." 

Directed  thus  from  earliest  childhood,  it  was  natural  that 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  9 

all  the  boy's  aspirations  should  lead  him  in  the  direction  of 
mental  culture  and  intellectual  development.  While  yet  a 
small  boy  he  gravely  told  his  seniors  that  he  would  "  be 
somebody  in  the  world." 

Natural  history  studies  were  his  favorites.  Biography 
and  ancient  history  had  been  deeply  perused  in  early  years 
with  his  mother's  patient  aid.  To  mathematics  he  gave 
such  careful  attention  that  he  was  enabled  to  pay  part  of 
liis  tuition  in  some  of  the  higher  schools  by  teaching  classes 
in  mathematics.  Of  grammar  he  seemed  to  have  a  ready 
mastery.  For  the  modern  languages  other  than  his  own  he 
cared  little,  studying  only  what  seemed  imperatively  neces- 
sary to  attain  that  comprehensive  education  for  which  he 
was  so  earnestly  working.  He  studied  Latin  and  Greek  to 
give  him  broader  ideas  of  the  structure  and  formation  of 
his  own  language. 

But  in  natural  history  and  botany  he  found  a  well-spring 
of  unfailing  delight,  and  no  boy  or  man  was  better 
acquainted  with  the  fauna  and  flora  of  that  region.  He 
chased  the  small  game  of  the  woods,  more  to  study  its  habits 
than  for  the  pleasure  of  killing,  and  he  knew  the  haunts 
and  ways  of  every  furry  denizen  of  the  forest  for  miles 
around.  Equally  ardent  was  his  pursuit  of  flowers,  and  no 
triumph  of  his  later  life  ever  filled  his  soul  with  greater 
pleasure  than  the  discovery,  in  those  boyish  days,  of  some 
new  or  rare  floral  specimen  in  field  or  forest. 

His  mother  loved  flowers,  and  cultivated  the  prettiest  of 


10  THE  LIFE  OF  JOIW  B.  FINCH. 

shrubs  and  vines  around  her  home.  John  spaded  the 
flower-beds  in  the  spring,  and  helped  to  sow  the  seeds  and 
care  for  the  growing  plants  during  the  summer.  These 
labors  stimulated  his  interest,  and  watching  by  his  mother's 
side  for  the  daily  development  of  the  tender  shoots,  intensi- 
fied that  interest  into  a  passionate  fondness  for  all  the 
beauties  of  leaf  or  bloom  in  the  vegetable  world. 

The  aptness  at  retort  which  was  a  marked  characteristic 
of  his  public  life  was  developed  when  a  child.  Stopping 
one  day  at  the  country  "store"  on  his  way  from  school, 
he  was  accosted  by  a  clergyman  whose  austere  mariner  had 
made  him  very  unpopular  with  "  the  boys." 

"  Well,  John,  what  do  you  intend  to  make  of  yourself 
when  you  grow  up  ?" 

"  I  shall  try  to  be  a  lawyer.  If  I  fail  in  that,  I'll  try  to 
be  a  horse-jockey,  and  if  I  can't  succeed  in  that,  I'll  be  a 
minister,"  was  the  reply. 

Rapid  progress  in  his  studies  during  the  few  weeks  he 
was  able  to  attend  school  each  year  soon  carried  him  to  the 
limit  of  instruction  provided  in  the  common  schools,  but 
fell  infinitely  short  of  filling  the  measure  of  his  desire  for 
an  education.  How  to  continue  the  pursuit  of  knowledge 
became  an  absorbing  question.  The  father  was  toiling 
early  and  late  to  provide  the  means  of  support  for  his  large 
family.  Domestic  cares  encompassed  the  mother's  whole 
life  The  slender  income  sufficed  only  to  minister  to  the 
family's  most  urgent  necessities.  There  was  not  much  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.   FINCH.  11 

hope  for  from  the  parents,  much  as  they  desired  to  aid 

^ 

John's  laudable  ambitions. 

In  this  perplexing  situation  his  older  brothers  and  sisters 
came  to  the  rescue.  In  the  neighboring  village  of  Cincin- 
natus  an  academy  flourished.  Thitherward  all  the  studious 
and  intellectual  boys  and  girls  of  the  surrounding  country 
turned  their  longing  eyes,  happy  if  only  for  a  single  term 
they  might  be  permitted  to  wander  in  its  "  classic  shades." 
Some  of  John's  brothers  and  sisters  were  at  work,  earning 
small  sums.  Uniting  their  little  savings,  they  made  out  a 
sum  sufficient,  with  careful  economy,  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  the  coveted  term  in  the  academy.  A  small  room  was 
rented  and  furnished,  and  provisions  were  supplied  from 
home  and  carried  to  Cincinnatus  in  a  little  trunk,  which 
the  father  still  preserves. 

On  each  Monday  morning  he  set  forth,  with  his  little 
trunk  of  provisions  in  his  hand,  and  walked  to  the  village 
of  Cincinnatus,  a  distance  of  five  miles.  At  the  close  of 
the  week's  school  days,  on  Friday  evening,  he  patiently 
trudged  home  again  to  renew  his  supply  of  provisions 
and  to  spend  the  Sabbath  with  parents,  brothers  and 
sisters. 

At  the  end  of  a  single  term  the  small  resources  were 
exhausted,  and  it  became  necessary  for  the  young  man  to 
seek  by  his  own  labor  the  means  for  further  education. 
His  hopes  had  been  too  long  centred  upon  intellectual  pur- 
suits to  be  surrendered  now.  He  therefore  determined  to 


12  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCS. 

"work  his  own  way,"  devoting  all  he  could  save  of  his 
earnings  to  the  expenses  of  his  education. 

At  the  close  of  his  first  term  in  the  Cincinnatus  Academy 
he  made  application  to  the -trustees  of  a  small  country 
school  in  the  town  of  German  for  the  position  of  teacher. 
Here  he  taught  the  winter  term  of  1868-69.  The  salary 
was  small,  but  it  enabled  him  to  return  to  the  academy  for 
the  spring  term  of  1869. 

In  the  summer  of  1869  he  worked  on  a  farm  near  his 
home.  The  labors  of  haying  and  harvesting  were  a  very 
severe  strain  upon  a  constitution  never  vigorous,  but  with 
Spartan  bravery  and  determination  he  performed  his  tasks. 
He  never  afterward  attempted  to  work  at  farm  labor  except 
occasionally  for  a  single  day  at  a  time.  After  harvest  time 
was  passed,  he  returned  to  Cincinnatus,  to  expend  his  earn- 
ings in  gathering  further  stores  of  knowledge. 


CHAPTER   II. 

YOUNG    MANHOOD. 

The  heights  by  great  rnen  reached  and  kept 

Were  not  attained  by  sudden  flight, 
But  they,  while  their  companions  slept, 

Were  toiling  upward  in  the  night. 

Longfellow. 

There  is  unspeakable  pleasure  attending  the  life  of  a  voluntary  student. 
—  Goldimilh. 

TTUDR,  his  first  eighteen  uneventful  years  John  B.  Finch 
-•-  lived,  toiled,  and  studied  in  the  country  townships  of 
Chenango  and  Cortland  counties.  Hampered  by  an  im- 
paired constitution  ;  fettered  by  lack  of  means  to  pursue 
his  studies  ;  hindered  by  frequent  demands  from  home  for 
the  performance  of  various  tasks  ;  retarded  in  intellectual 
development  by  the  narrow  range  of  study  and  the  slow 
progress  of  classes  in  the  common  country  schools,  a  less 
determined  young  man  would  have  yielded  to  despair  or 
settled  stolidly  into  the  drudgery  of  a  life  of  manual  labor. 
That  he  persistently  battled  against  such  odds,  and  won, 
illustrates  his  extraordinary  force  of  character.  At  eighteen 
he  had  far  outstripped  his  school  comrades,  though  none  of 
them  had  to  contend  with  the  obstacles  he  met  at  every 


14  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

step.  His  brothers  and  sisters  looked  upon  him  as  an  intel- 
lectual prodigy,  and  were  willing  to  make  any  sacrifice  in 
their  power  for  his  advancement.  His  father  and  mother 
watched  his  development  with  honest  pride,  and  felt  grieved 
and  pained  at  their  inability  to  help  him  toward  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  highest  ambitions. 

He  had  been  so  often  interrupted  in  his  academic  course 
by  the  necessity  of  working  to  pay  his  way,  that  he  now 
determined  to  pursue  his  studies  for  some  time  to  come 
during  the  leisure  he  could  obtain  while  engaged  in  teach- 
ing. Not  finding  an  opening  in  any  of  the  public  schools 
near  his  home,  he  concluded,  in  the  summer  of  1870,  to 
teach  a  private  school  in  the  little  village  of  East  Pharsalia, 
six  or  seven  miles  distant.  One  of  the  first  men  he  ap- 
proached concerning  his  plan  was  Samuel  A.  Coy,  whose 
daughter  he  afterward  married.  This  gentleman  writes  : 

u  I  was  in  front  of  my  house.  He  introduced  himself 
and  stated  his  business  in  a  business-like  manner.  I  invited 
him  into  the  house,  but  he  excused  himself  by  saying  that 
he  was  anxious  to  complete  the  enumeration  of  the  pupils 
he  would  be  likely  to  get,  as  soon  as  possible.  I  asked 
where  he  had  attended  school,  and  the  conversation  ran  on 
educational  matters  and  the  principles  of  good  teaching. 

"  I  saw,  or  thought  I  saw,  in  the  brief  conversation  with 
him,  that  he  was  a  youth  of  more  than  ordinary  ability  and 
talent,  and  as  I  became  better  acquainted  with  him  I  was 
confirmed  in  that  opinion." 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  15 

The  necessary  number  of  pupils  for  a  good  private  school 
were  obtained,  a  building  rented,  and  the  teaching  promptly 
begun.  After  a  few  days'  attendance,  one  of  the  more 
advanced  pupils  was  asked  : 

"  How  do  you  like  your  new  teacher  ?" 

"He  understands  his  business,"  was  the  reply,  "  and 
attends  to  it  strictly.  In  explanation  he  can't  be  beat. 
Whatever  he  knows  he  can  explain  so  that  everybody  else 
can  understand." 

In  this  school,  as  his  pupil,  he  first  met  Retta  L.  Coy. 
As  she  was  pretty,  vivacious,  and  unusually  intelligent,  the 
handsome  young  school-master  was  greatly  attracted  to 
her,  and  when  later  in  the  year  he  taught  a  district  school 
in  the  neighboring  town  of  Preston,  he  paid  her  frequent 
visits,  and  their  acquaintance  ripened  into  a  warm,  mutual 
attachment. 

Retta  Coywas  born  February  17th,  1852.  She  early 
developed  a  great  love  of  books  and  study,  and  before 
becoming  a  pupil  in  the  select  school  had  already  been  a 
teacher  in  the  district  schools  for  five  terms,  commencing 
when  she  was  but  fifteen. 

On  the  eighth  day  of  January,  1871,  the  marriage  took 
place.  Both  bride  and  groom  were  too  earnest  in  their 
pursuit  of  knowledge  and  too  ambitious  to  win  in  the  life 
race  to  idle  weeks  away  in  their  honeymoon,  or  to  waste 
their  hard-earned  dollars  in  a  costly  "  bridal  trip."  Per- 
haps a  soberer  or  more  sensiWe.journey  was  never  made  by 


16  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

newly-wedded  lovers.  In  Deposit,  in  the  adjoining  county 
of  Broome,  Laurel  Bank  Seminary  was  attracting  the 
attention  of  advanced  students.  Thither  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Finch  went  as  soon  as  his  winter  term  of  school  was  fin- 
ished, and  devoted  themselves  arduously  to  their  studies. 

Although  attending  but  a  single  term  at  this  institution, 
the  time  was  so  advantageously  employed  that  on  their 
return  to  Chenango  County,  they  were  both  able  to  obtain 
situations  as  teachers  in  the  high  school  at  Smyrna. 

Mr.  Simons,  with  whom  they  boarded  when  they  com- 
menced teaching  at  Smyrna,  recently  remarked  to  a  friend  : 

"  Mr.  Finch  was  a  perfect  man  while  he  lived  with  me. 
In  all  our  business  relations  he  did  exactly  as  he  promised. 
I  believe  he  wanted  to  do  just  right  by  every  one. 

"  We  often  talked  on  temperance.  lie  abhorred  the  use 
of  intoxicants  by  any  one  with  whom  he  came-  in  contact. 
He  said  he  had  begun  at  the  foot  of  the* ladder  and  was 
going  to  the  top  round,  and  was  going  there  on  the  tem- 
perance line,  fighting  the  rum  demon." 

At  the  close  of  the  winter  term  at  Smyrna,  Mr.  Finch 
and  his  wife  removed  to  Norwich,  in  the  same  county. 
On  the  first  day  of  April,  1872,  he  commenced  the  study 
of  law  in  the  office  of  Prindle,  Knapp  &  Ray,  of  Norwich. 
During  the  summer  he  sold  agricultural  implements  to  help 
pay  his  expenses  while  pursuing  his  law  studies. 

In  the  fall  Mr.  Finch  returned  to  Smyrna,  and  finding  no 
vacancy  in  the  Union  School  in  the  village,  applied  for  a  situa- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  17 

tion  as  teacher  in  the  "  old  red  school-house"  one  and  one 
half  miles  south,  and  was  eagerly  accepted  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees.  He  taught  the  winter  term  of  1872-73,  renting 
a  dwelling  near  the  school-house.  In  the  spring  he  re- 
moved to  a  house  on  the  "  creek  road,"  west  of  the  village, 
and  resided  there  while  teaching  the  summer  and  fall  terms 
in  the  Union  School  of  Smyrna. 

During  the  fall  term  he  enlisted  the  interest  of  the  larger 
boys  in  the  project  of  planting  trees  on  the  school  grounds, 
and  by  their  aid  he  dug  in  the  woods  over  thirty  thrifty 
young  sugar  maples  and  planted  them  with  great  care. 
These  trees  are  still  growing  and  vigorous,  and  constitute  a 
fine  adornment  for  the  grounds,  and  a  grateful  shade  in 
summer.  So  careful  was  the  selection  of  young  saplings, 
and  so  well  was  the  work  of  setting  performed,  that  not 
more  than  one  or  two  failed  to  grow,  or  ever  required  re- 
placing. About  the  same  time  he  helped  the  "  boys"  to 
gravel  the  walk  from  the  school  door  to  the  street.  J.  P. 
Knowles  says  : 

"  I  think  the  job  was  well  done,  as  it  has  been  a  good 
walk  up  to  the  present,  and  I  do  not  know  of  any  repairs." 

In  the  autumn  of  1873  Mr.  Finch  and  his  wife  both  again 
obtained  situations  as  teachers  in  the  same  school,  this  time 
in  the  Union  graded  school  at  New  Woodstock,  in  Madison 
County,  where  they  taught  for  about  one  year. 

At  the  close  of  the  fall  term  in  1874  Mr.  Finch  spent 
some  weeks  making  temperance  addresses  at  country 


18  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

school-houses  and  in  the  towns  of  Schuyler  and  Chemung 
counties.  While  thus  engaged  he  wrote  from  Millport  to 
his  wife,  who  was  still  teaching  at  New  Woodstock  : 

"  I  speak  on  temperance  in  this  village  next  Sunday 
evening.  Pray  for  Johnnie  that  he  may  succeed." 

At  Alpine,  in  December,  he  was  suddenly  prostrated. 
His  wife  and  his  brother  came  promptly  to  his  bedside  and 
attended  him  faithfully  until  he  was  able  to  be  removed  to 
the  home  of  his  father-in-law  in  East  Pharsalia. 

By  the  time  he  recovered  Retta  was  seized  with  a  very 
severe  attack  of  heart  disease,  and  his  returning  strength 
was  taxed  to  its  utmost  limit  by  the  unceasing  vigils  at  her 
side.  About  midnight  of  the  20th  of  February,  as  he  bent 
over  her,  watching  anxiously,  she  looked  up  in  his  face 
with  a  smile  and  whispered,  "Lift  me  up,  Johnnie." 
Tenderly  the  husband's  arms  enfolded  the  thin  and  worn 
form,  and  gently  he  raised  her  till  her  head  lay  on  his 
shoulder,  and  he  looked  in  her  face  to  ask  if  she  rested 
easily.  But  the  question  was  unanswered.  Even  as  he 
looked  a  shadow  came  sweeping  over  the  fair,  pallid  face, 
the  light  faded  from  the  loving  eyes,  and  the  seal  of  silence 
was  set  forever  on  the  lips  whose  words  were  music  to  him 
who  watched  and  wept.  Retta  was  resting  indeed. 
Around  the  cottage  the  winter  winds  moaned  and  sighed, 
but  she  was  resting  in  the  summer-land  of  perfect  peace. 
Night  and  darkness  covered  the  cold  clay,  but  the  freed 
spirit  rested  in  the  soft  sunlight  of  eternal  day.  Sorrow 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  19 

and  tears  and  breaking  hearts  in  the  old  home,  but  Retta 
rested  on  the  shadowless  shore,  in  joy  forever  undarkened 
by  gloom. 

To  the  young  husband  the  blow  was  swift  and  terrible. 
He  could  not  believe  that  the  great  change  had  come  to  her 
whom  he  loved  so  devotedly.  In  the  days  before  the 
burial  he  again  and  again  clasped  her  in  his  arms,  raining 
kisses  on  the  cold  lips,  and  crying  aloud  in  the  agony  of  his 
passionate  grief,  "  O  Retta,  Retta,  come  back  to  me  !" 

In  all  his  after  years  the  memory  of  his  young  wife's  last 
night  on  earth  was  inexpressibly  painful.  Sacredly  shrined 
in  his  heart's  holiest  chambers  the  image  of  Retta  ever 
remained.  To  a  few  of  his  nearest  friends  he  sometimes 
mentioned  her  sadly  and  reverently.  Only  to  her  who 
shared  with  him  the  labors  and  triumphs  of  his  later  life 
did  he  reveal  the  depth  of  affectionate  remembrance  of  his 
lost  one,  cherished  in  his  loyal,  loving  heart. 

After  Retta's  death  he  remained  some  months  at  her 
father's  house,  resting  and  slowly  recruiting  his  strength, 
until  May,  when  his  father  and  mother  removed  to  Cort- 
land,  and  he  again  made  their  house  his  home,  continuing 
the  study  of  law  with  the  firm  of  H.  &  L.  Warren. 

The  death  of  his  wife  was  a  blow  from  which  it  seemed 
impossible  for  Mr.  Finch  to  recover.  His  temperament 
was  so  ardent,  his  likes  and  dislikes  were  so  intense,  that 
this  first  love  of  his  boyish  years  had  permeated  his  whole 
being. 


20  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B,  FINCH. 

For  months  he  brooded  in  silence  over  his  loss.  He 
cared  for  no  companions,  shunned  society,  and  applied  him- 
self closely  and  incessantly  to  study  till  he  was  compelled 
to  desist,  a  severe  attack  of  typhoid  fever  prostrating  him 
for  some  weeks. 

After  his  recovery  his  old  associations  began  to  assert 
their  influence,  one  of  the  first  meetings  he  attended  being 
a  Teachers'  Institute.  The  contact  with  the  world  roused 
him  from  the  morbid  condition  into  which  he  had  been 
plunged  by  the  loss  of  his  wife.  He  was  elected  secretary. 
During  the  progress  of  the  institute  a  discussion  arose 
concerning  some  grammatical  question,  Mr.  Finch  taking 
one  side  and  the  professor  in  charge  holding  an  opposite 
view.  Numerous  authorities  were  cited  by  Mr.  Finch, 
and  the  prevailing  evidence  sustained  him. 

Up  to  this  time  the  regular  annual  Teachers'  Institutes, 
provided  for  by  State  law,  had  been  the  only  gatherings  of 
teachers  held  in  the  county.  At  this  session  of  the  Insti- 
tute, Mr.  Finch  submitted  a  comprehensive  plan  for  an 
association  of  all  the  teachers  in  the  county,  to  hold  meet- 
ings every  quarter  for  the  discussion  of  topics  of  interest 
concerning  methods  of  teaching  and  school  management. 
The  topics  were  to  be  given  out  by  the  professor,  written 
up  carefully  by  the  teacher  he  selected,  and  the  paper  read 
at  the  next  meeting,  after  which  there  should  be  a  general 
discussion  of  the  whole  subject.  Mr.  Finch  was  selected 
to  prepare  the  first  paper. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  21 

v 

It  seemed  necessary  that  he  should  engage  in  some  re- 
munerative employment  during  the  winter,  and  he  there- 
fore applied  to  the  trustees  to  teach  the  district  school  at 
Texas  Valley,  a  few  miles  southeast  of  Cortland  and  not 
far  from  the  school  he  first  taught. 

In  making  the  contract  the  trustees  said  to  him  : 

"  Mr.  Finch,  we  have  some  very  hard  boys  in  our  dis- 
trict. Do  you  think  you  can  manage  them  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  I'll,  get  along  with  them,"  was  the  easy, 
sanguine  response. 

"  But  they  have  '  put  out  of  doors  '  every  teacher  we 
have  had  in  four  years,  and  we  have  had  some  strong 
men." 

"  They  won't  put  me  out,"  answered  Mr.  Finch,  with 
determination  gleaming  in  his  eye. 

"Well,  if  you  succeed  in  managing  the  boys  this  winter 
we  shall  be  very  glad." 

"  If  you  will  stand  by  me  I  will  teach  the  school  and 
govern  it." 

"  All  right,  you  can  depend  011  the  trustees  to  stand  by 
you." 

No  doubt  they  felt  some  misgiving  as  they  thought  of 
the  sturdy,  rugged,  full-grown  young  men  from  the  farms, 
who  attended  their  school,  and  then  looked  at  the  tall, 
slender,  boyish-looking  youth  who,  though  twenty-three, 
appeared  little  more  than  sixteen.  Nevertheless  they  said 
nothing,  and  accordingly  school  began  early  in  November, 


22  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

with  Mr.  Fincli  duly  installed  as  teacher.  More  than  a 
month  passed  quietly,  the  "  big  boys"  making  no  outward 
demonstration,  but  ominously  scowling  at  the  unusual 
restraint. 

The  day  after  Christmas  the  storm  broke.  In  a  letter 
dated  December  27th,  1875,  Mr.  Finch  tells  the  story  : 

"  I  am  happy  this  morning  in  thinking  of  the  victory 
achieved  in  behalf  of  good  order  yesterday.  The  facts  are 
these  :  I  have  eleven  young  men  whose  ages  vary  from 
seventeen  to  twenty-one  years.  They  had  said,  long  before 
I  came  here,  that  I  could  not  teach  the  school.  I  have 
punished  two  of  them  before,  and,  prompted  by  revenge,  the 
boys  in  question  organized,  and  yesterday  at  recess  in  the 
forenoon  the  '  music  '  commenced.  It  is  against  the  rules 
'  to  fool '  in  the  school-room,  and  in  answer  to  my  request 
to  keep  still,  a  large  boy  said  it  was  none  of  my  business. 
You  can  imagine  the  rest — black  eyes,  bruised  noses,  and 
other  marks  on  those  boys  are  plenty,  while  I  was  unhurt. 
The  trustee  said  to  me  this  morning,  '  Tou  will  have  no 
more  trouble  in  this  school.  Go  ahead. ' ' 

The  trustee's  prediction,  mentioned  in  the  letter,  proved 
true.  For  the  remainder  of  the  winter  the  school  was 
quiet,  and  the  former  "  unruly  boys"  were  as  obedient  and 
respectful  as  could  be  desired. 

This  term  closed  about  the  middle  of  February.  Soon 
afterward  a  spelling  contest  was  announced  in  the  Normal 
School  at  Cortland.  All  persons  who  desired  were  per- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  23 

mitted  to  participate.  The  prize  to  be  awarded  was  a  com- 
plete set  of  school  text-books. 

When  the  day  of  the  struggle  came  Mr.  Finch  took  part. 
The  judges  resorted  to  all  the  usual  devices  to  puzzle  the 
spellers,  but  he  stood  every  test  and  triumphantly  carried 
off  the  prize,  much  to  the  chagrin  and  mortification  of 
some  of  the  Normal  pupils,  who  had  confidently  counted  on 
victory  for  themselves. 

The  winter  term  of  1875-76  in  the  Texas  Valley  district 
was  the  last  school  ever  taught  by  Mr.  Finch.  At  intervals 
for  seven  years  he  had  been  engaged  in  teaching,  and  had 
won  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  successful  instructor.  He 
had  invariably  subdued  the  rebellious  spirits  who  sought  to 
disregard  the  master's  authority,  sometimes  by  physical 
force,  but  always  by  some  means  maintaining  that  ascend- 
ency which  is  the  key  to  success. 

One  of  his  old  pupils  says  : 

"  He  was  wonderfully  patient  and  painstaking  with 
his  pupils,  explaining  over  and  over  again  all  difficult 
problems,  and  never  appearing  satisfied  until  the  dull- 
est was  made  to  comprehend  every  part  of  the  explana- 
tion.'' 

Another  who  was  under  his  instruction  writes  : 

"'  There  was  never  any  petty  meanness  in  his  govern- 
ment, such  as  is  common  with  some  teachers.  The  younger 
and  the  older,  the  bright  and  the  dull,  the  quiet  and  the 
noisy  ones,  were  all  treated  with  exact  equality  and  justice. 


24  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

If  he  had  any  favorites  there  was  no  indication  of  it  that 
even  the  most  sensitive  could  have  observed." 

Mrs.  Anthony  Volmer,  who  was  under  his  instruction  at 
the  Union  School  at  Smyrna,  writes,  January  6th,  1888  : 

"  As  a  teacher  he  was  a  splendid  success,  lie  had  a 
happy  gift  of  imparting  instruction,  a  rare  talent  for  organ- 
izing, and  a  very  unusual  tact  in  governing.  I  never  knew 
a  teacher  who  had  so  keen  an  insight  into  the  minds  of  his 
pupils,  combined  with  a  readiness  of  explanation  that  made 
every  difficulty  vanish  quickly.  He  led  by  his  strong  per- 
sonal magnetism,  combined  witli  great  patience." 

His  gentleness  was  a  marked  characteristic  of  his  school 
work.  Though  firm  in  his  determination  to  secure  obedi- 
ence to  reasonable  requirements,  there  was  no  tinge  of 
asceticism  in  his  disposition.  His  wonderful  personal  mag- 
netism was  as  conspicuous  in  the  teacher  as  in  the  platform 
orator.  His  pupils  loved  him,  and  in  almost  all  cases  they 
endeavored  to  do  what  he  asked  of  them  more  to  please 
him  than  from  any  other  impulse.  Their  attention  to  duty 
was  well  rewarded.  He  was  always  ready  to  entertain  them 
after  lessons  were  learned,  with  stories  from  history,  with 
which  his  mind  was  amply  stored,  or  with  a  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  some  of  the  world's  wonders. 

He  was  the  life  of  the  play-ground.  In  all  the  out-door 
sports  he  excelled.  Not  one  of  his  "boys"  could  run 
faster,  jump  further,  or  give  a  more  daring  "  lead  "  in  the 
game  of  "  goal."  The  sceptre  of  control  was  laid  down, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  25 

and  he  was  a  'l  boy"'  with  the  boys,  without  seeking  or 
desiring  to  influence  or  command.  Only  when  a  wrong 
was  being  done  to  some  of  the  smaller  children  did  he,  on 
the  play-ground,  assume  the  authority  of  master.  Woe 
betide  the  big  bully  who  attempted  in  his  presence  to  ill- 
treat  "  the  babies,"  as  he  always  called  them.  He  would 
protect  little  children,  if  necessary,  with  his  life. 

Before  and  after  school  hours,  morning  and  evening,  he 
pursued  a  course  of  college  studies,  and  for  the  latter  three 
years  read  law.  His  progress  was  nearly  as  rapid  while 
teaching  as  while  attending  the  academy  and  the  seminary. 
There  was  no  time  wasted.  If  he  could  not  follow  all 
scientists  in  their  mysterious  explorations,  he  determined 
at  least  to  stand  in  the  gateways  of  knowledge  and  catch  a 
ray  of  light  from  their  lamps  or  a  gleam  of  perception 
from  their  watch-fires  as  they  camped  on  the  confines  of 
the  "  unknown  beyond." 

In  every  branch  of  learning  he  was  an  indefatigable 
student.  He  desired  to  know  something,  at  least,  even  if 
he  could  not  attain  all  that  was  to  be  learned  concerning 
science,  art,  history  and  political  economy.  The  mystery 
of  human  existence  commanded  his  longest,  most  patient 
and  persevering  investigation.  Concerning  this  he  deter- 
mined to  reach  the  utmost  verge  of  human  knowledge, 
and,  if  possible,  to  develop  undiscovered  truths. 

The  days,  months,  and  years  devoted  to  study  in  such 
intervals  as  he  could  spare  from  other  duties  would  not 


26  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

have  been  sufficient  to  gather  the  vast  amount  of  useful 
knowledge  with  which  his  mind  was  stored,  had  he  not 
possessed  a  remarkably  retentive  memory  and  a  quick, 
almost  intuitive  perception.  With  these  endowments  he  was 
able  to  accomplish  more  with  his  limited  opportunities  and 
alone,  than  many  others  would  have  wrought  with  the  con- 
stant aid  of  the  best  instructors  in  America's  higher  institu- 
tions of  learning. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BEGINNING   TEMPERANCE   WORK. 

TN  the  year  in  which  John  B.  Finch  was  born  there  came 
-*-  into  existence  an  organization  whose  influence  was 
largely  instrumental  in  turning  his  thoughts  toward  the 
temperance  question,  and  whose  systems  of  work  made  his 
development  as  a  leader  possible. 

It  may  be  claimed  for  the  Independent  Order  of  Good 
Templars  that  it  was  the  influence  of  that  society  which 
firmly  and  permanently  fixed  his  attention  upon  the  great 
problems,  the  settlement  of  which  enlisted  the  best  energies 
of  his  young  manhood. 

A  devoted  Christian  mother  had  early  trained  him  to 
loathe  vice,  and  so  deeply  had  the  love  of  personal  purity 
been  instilled  in  his  mind  that  he  was  not  liable  to  fall  into 
drinking  habits  or  to  use  tobacco.  Reared  in  the  country, 
where  the  temptations  of  the  legalized  dram-shop  are  less 
felt,  he  grew  almost  to  manhood  without  near  contact  with 
its  contaminating  influences. 

Once,  when  a  boy,  in  company  with  his  mother,  he  visited 
a  neighboring  town.  As  they  were  passing  a  saloon  a 
drunken  man  reeled  from  the  door,  staggering  to  the  side- 


28  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

walk  just  ahead  of  them.  The  mother  saw  the  opportunity 
to  emphasize  her  home  teachings  by  the  terrible  illustration 
before  them. 

"  Promise  mother  again,"  she  said,  "  that  you  will  never 
touch  the  drink  that  makes  men  drunkards  like  that." 

11  Mother,  I  will  never  drink  a  drop  of  liquor,  and  when 
I'm  a  man  I'll  shut  up  the  places  where  they  sell  it." 

The  mother  warmly  pressed  the  hand  of  her  sanguine 
boy,  little  dreaming  that  in  his  manhood's  years,  in  hun- 
dreds of  towns  and  hamlets,  and  even  in  some  whole  States, 
his  efforts  would  be  an  important  factor  in  the  work  of 
"  shutting  up  the  places  where  they  sell  it." 

When  only  fifteen  he  was  mainly  instrumental  in  organ- 
izing a  lodge  of  Good  Templars  in  the  town  of  Pitcher, 
where  he  lived.  He  was  a  faithful  attendant  and  worker 
in  this  lodge  as  long  as  he  remained  in  the  vicinity.  In 
the  literary  exercises  and  discussions  at  the  lodge  meetings 
he  first  began  to  understand  his  power  as  a  debater. 

In  the  lodge  at  Smyrna,  which  both  he  and  his  wife 
joined  January  2d,  1872,  he  was  recognized  as  one  of  the 
most  valuable  members.  The  records  show  that  he  took  a 
prominent  part  in  every  meeting,  being  appointed  on  vari- 
ous committees,  leading  the  debates,  participating  in  the 
business  transactions,  and  reading  selections. 

An  old  acquaintance  who  knew  him  as  a  brother  in  this 
lodge  says  : 

"  His  readiness  of  debate  made  him  willing  to  take  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  29 

unpopular  side  of  a  question,  and  the  decision  of  the  judges 
was  almost  invariably  on  his  side." 

He  debated  in  the  affirmative  on  the  question,  "Resolved, 
That  a  free  government  may  restrain  personal  liberty." 
The  judges  decided  in  his  favor.  One  who  has  heard  him 
in  later  years  discussing  the  same  question  before  vast 
throngs  of  people  cannot  help  wondering  whether,  even  in 
those  early  years,  he  had  not  grasped  comprehensive  ideas 
of  the  true  intent  of  righteous  government. 

At  another  time  we  find  him  debating  the  question  of 
woman  suffrage,  and  winning  the  decision  of  the  judges  for 
the  principle. 

One  evening  he  gave  the  lodge  a  lecture  on  "  The  Pro- 
nunciation of  English  Words."  It  was  a  very  instructive 
lecture,  and  somewhat  amusing,  as  it  contained  a  few 
pointed  "  hits"  at  local  bombast. 

One  evening  a  large  sleigh-load  of  lodge  members  rode 
over  to  Poolville  to  visit  a  neighboring  lodge,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Finch  being  among  the  number. 

James  P.  Knowles,  who  was  one  of  the  company,  writes 
concerning  this  visit  : 

"  Several  of  us  made  brief  speeches,  but  we  all  recog- 
nized his  as  the  ablest.  On  the  return  I  sat  by  Mr.  Finch, 
and  we  discussed  poetry  and  poets.  It  was  one  of  the 
pleasantest  visits  I  ever  had  with  him." 

In  September,  1873,  several  of  the  lodges  in  Chenango 
County  united  in  the  arrangement  for  a  picnic  in  a  grove 


30  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

at  Lyon  'Brook  Bridge,  four  miles  south  of  Norwich,  where 
the  former  New  York  and  Oswego  Midland  Railroad 
crosses  a  deep  ravine.  In  this  picturesque  spot  a  large 
number  of  Templars  gathered.  There  had  been  no  pro- 
gramme arranged,  but  some  of  the  more  thoughtful  mem- 
bers desired  to  improve  the  occasion  by  securing  a  speaker 
to  give  an  address.  After  canvassing  the  assemblage  it  was 
discovered  that  no  one  was  prepared.  In  this  emergency, 
and  in  response  to  repeated  requests,  Mr.  Finch  came  for- 
ward. Barely  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  even  more 
youthful  in  appearance,  entirely  without  preparation,  he 
commenced  his  first  public  temperance  oration.  Starting 
calmly  and  deliberately  with  a  statement  of  the  Good 
Templar  platform  of  principles,  he  steadily  advanced  with 
his  argument  in  vindication  of  these  principles,  sweeping 
away  with  his  resistless  eloquence  the  barriers  of  false  logic 
reared  by  the  enemies  of  the  cause  the  Order  represented, 
and  closing  with  an  impassioned  appeal  to  all  his  hearers  to 
work  with  ever-increasing  zeal  to  save  the  fallen  and  to 
remove  the  drink  temptations  from  their  paths. 

It  was  a  fraternal  Templar  band  who  listened,  true- 
hearted  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls,  who  would  have 
solaced  even  a  failure  with  brotherly  and  sisterly  com- 
passion. But  they  were  not  prepared  for  this  marvel 
of  success — a  surprise  no  less  to  the  speaker  than  to 
them. 

From  this  time  forward  the  occasions  when  he  was  called 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  31 

upon  for  temperance  addresses  became  more  and  more 
frequent. 

When  his  pupils  in  school  asked  him  to  select  their 
declamations  and  recitations,  he  wrote  suitable  essays  or 
orations  on  the  temperance  question  for  them  to  memorize. 

His  attendance  at  his  Good  Templar  lodge  was  regular 
and  constant,  and  he  always  furnished  some  entertainment 
for  the  members — usually  an  extemporaneous  address  on 
some  phase  of  the  temperance  question.  He  illustrated  all 
his  arguments  by  citations  of  evil  effects  in  the  community, 
with  which  every  member  must  have  been  familiar.  His 
investigation  rapidly  led  him  to  understand  that  the  respon- 
sibility for  the  evil  results  does  not  rest  wholly  with  the 
proprietorof  the  drinking-places,  and  his  denunciation  of 
the  citizen  who  would  give  his  sanction  to  them  was 
scathing. 

In  May,  1876,  soon  after  the  closing  of  his  last  term  of 
school,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Frances  E.  Manchester,  at 
her  home  in  McGrawville,  N.  Y. 

Professor  K.  T.  Peck,  of  Cortland,  a  life-long  acquaint- 
ance and  friend  of  Miss  Manchester,  furnishes  a  brief 
sketch  of  her  history  and  antecedents. 

"  Miss  Frances  E.  Manchester  was  born  in  the  town  of  Solon,  Cort- 
land County,  N.  Y.,  May  21st,  1852.  Her  great-grandfather,  Captain 
Stephen  N.  Peck,  was  among  the  first  settlers  of  the  county,  where  the 
family  has  since  resided,  and  his  brothers  were  Elder  Nathan  Peck,  a  Bap- 
tist clergyman  of  Cortland  for  many  years,  and  Elder  John  Peck,  a  Bap- 
tist missionary  of  wide  repute  in  New  York  City.  Darius  Peck,  a  cousin, 


32  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

was  late  judge  of  Hudson  City,  N.  Y.  The  family  comes  in  direct  line 
from  Deacon  William  Peck,  born  in  London,  England,  in  1601,  who  be- 
came one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  New  Haven  Colony  in  1638. 
Frances  is  the  daughter  of  Whitcomb  and  Lucelia  Manchester,  residents 
of  Cortland  County  for  many  years.  Like  many  women  of  our  land 
who  have  attained  influence  and  prominence  in  literary  circles,  on  the 
platform,  and  as  leaders  of  charitable,  missionary,  and  temperance  work, 
she  had  little  to  depend  upon  in  early  life,  in  obtaining  an  education 
from  books,  save  her  own  resources.  The  premature  death  of  her 
mother  laid  almost  insurmountable  obstacles  in  her  pathway,  but  with 
that  energy  characteristic  of  her  life  work,  she  obtained  sufficient  edu- 
cation at  the  home  district  school  and  by  private  study  to  become  a 
teacher  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  For  five  terms  thereafter  she  taught 
school  in  the  vicinity  of  her  home,  took  a  course  of  study  in  the  Cort- 
land State  Normal  School  in  1875,  and  further  prepared  herself  for  the 
teacher's  vocation  at  the  McGrawville  Academy. 

"  During  these  latter  years  she  formed  the  acquaintance  of  John  B. 
Finch,  to  whom  she  was  united  in  marriage  May  31st,  1876.  This  event 
opened  a  new  era  before  her,  and  presented  a  wide  and  varied  field  of 
labor  seemingly  suited  to  her  ambition.  From  that  time  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Finch,  her  work  was  inseparably  connected  with  that  of  her 
husband. 

"  Mrs.  Finch  joined  the  Good  Templars  soon  after  her  marriage,  and 
for  three  years  following  travelled  with  her  husband,  interested  herself 
in  temperance  work,  and  acquainted  herself  with  many  of  the  best 
authors.  In  1879  she  was  elected  General  Superintendent  of  Juvenile 
Temples  of  Nebraska,  and  during  that  year  organized-  a  number  of 
Temples. 

"  In  1880  she  did  some  work  in  connection  with  the  '  Woman's  Suf- 
frage Reform,'  began  the  study  of  elocution,  and  gave  many  select  read- 
ings and  valuable  papers  and  poems  before  appreciative  audiences 
throughout  the  country.  Encouraged  in  these  endfavors,  and  desirous 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  35 

of  making  her  efforts  of  greater  value  to  others,  she,  in  1883,  entered  the 
School  of  Oratory,  North  Western  University,  at  Evanston,  111.,  from 
which  she  was  graduated  in  June,  1884.  In  1886  Mrs.  Finch  extended 
the  greeting  of  the  world's  Good  Templars  to  the  National  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  Convention  at  Minneapolis,  and  during 
the  past  two  years  she  has  been  officially  connected  with  the  Good 
Templars  of  the  district  of  which  Chicago  is  the  centre. 

"  Mrs.  Finch  is  a  woman  of  broad  views  and  unprejudiced  opinions. 
She  possesses  that  versatility  and  adaptability  to  society  and  circum- 
stances that  well  fit  her  for  the  great  work  of  temperance  reform.  The 
death  of  her  husband  has  placed  upon  her  new  and  grave  responsibil- 
ities, so  that,  in  whatever  field  of  labor  she  may  be  engaged,  her  many 
friends  will  follow  her  with  their  sympathies,  and  welcome  her  success 
in  all  her  undertakings." 

About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1876  Mr.  Finch  received 
a  commission  as  Deputy  Grand  Worthy  Chief  Templar  for 
the  State  of  New  York  from  li.  E.  Sutton,  then  the  Chief 
Executive  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  New  York.  On  the 
evening  of  April  26th  he  organized  a  lodge  at  McGraw- 
ville,  in  Cortland  County.  This  began  an  active  Good 
Templar  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  organization  of 
twenty-nine  lodges  before  the  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
at  Saratoga  Springs  in  August  of  that  year.  Eight  of  these 
lodges  were  in  Tioga  County,  seven  in  Chemung,  ten  in 
Tornpkins,  and  four  in  Cortland. 

Such  rapid  and  successful  work  was  quite  a  surprise  to 
old  members  of  the  Grand  Lodge.  There  were  many 
obstacles  in  the  way,  but  he  met  and  overcame  them  all. 
It  had  been  usual  to  suspend  aggressive  work  for  the  Order 


36  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

during  the  heated  term,  but  Mr.  Finch  pushed  the  cam- 
paign in  midsummer  with  results  commensurate  to  the 
energy  he  put  into  it.  A  difficulty  with  which  he  had  to 
contend  was  found  in  the  fact  that  lodges  had  existed  and 
slowly  died  in  every  town  visited.  To  those  who  had 
become  lukewarm  or  disheartened  by  past  failures  he  gave 
new  inspiration  and  hope.  To  people  who  had  never 
understood  Good  Templary  he  gave  such  thorough  explana- 
tions of  the  methods  and  possibilities  of  work  through  this 
instrumentality  that  he  everywhere  created  great  enthusi- 
asm for  the  Order.  County  lodges,  composed  of  delegates 
from  all  the  subordinate  lodges  in  each  county,  were 
organized  where  they  had  not  already  been  in  existence, 
and  the  old  organizations  were  greatly  strengthened. 

The  Tioga  County  Lodge  presented  him  a  gold-headed 
cane,  and  Chemung  County  a  fine  silver  tea-set  suitably 
engraved.  The  Tompkins  County  Lodge  presented  him 
with  a  handsome  Grand  Lodge  regalia. 

At  the  session  of  the  New  York  Grand  Lodge  in  1876, 
Mr.  Finch,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  made  his  first  appear- 
ance in  that  body  as  a  representative  of  Cortland  Lodge. 
He  was  selected  to  deliver  the  principal  address  at  the 
Opera  House  public  meeting  on  the  first  evening  of  the 
session.  In  the  deliberations  of  the  session  he  took  a  prom- 
inent part.  Here  he  first  became  acquainted  with  the  lead- 
ing temperance  workers  of  the  State. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  year  and  the  early  part  of 


JOHN  B.    FINCH  AT  THE  AGE  OP   TWENTY-FOUR. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  39 

• 
1877  he  was  engaged  in  lecturing  for  the  Good  Templar 

lodges  in  Western  and  Central  New  York  and  in  organizing 
new  lodges.  In  this  work  he  continued  steadily  successful, 
greatly  encouraging  and  strengthening  Good  Templary  in 
every  section  of  the  State  he  visited. 

The  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge,  the  chief  governing 
body  of  the  Good  Templars  for  the  world,  held  its  twenty- 
third  annual  session  at  Portland,  Me.,  in  May,  1877.  Mr. 
Finch  had  become  so  intensely  interested  in  Good  Templar 
work  that  he  desired  to  be  fully  identified  with  every  part 
of  the  system. 

"  Puss,"  he  said  to  his  wife,  calling  her  by  the  pet  name 
he  always  used,  "  we  must  go  to  Portland." 

' '  How  will  you  get  the  money  to  pay  your  expenses  ?' ' 
she  asked. 

"  Oh,  I'll  make  some  lecture  engagements  going  and 
coming,  and  will  pay  our  way  out  of  it,' '  was  the  easy, 
confident  reply. 

"  I  do  not  think  we  can  afford  it,  even  if  you  can  do 
that,"  she  replied.  "  I  will  remain  here  while  you  are 
gone. ' ' 

"  But  I  want  you  to  go,"  the  husband  persisted. 

"  No,  Bub,  it  is  not  best,"  Mrs.  Finch  said,  as  she 
crushed  the  pleasing  thought  of  the  enjoyment  the  session 
might  bring  her. 

"  Well,  Puss,  I  must  go,  even  if  I  go  alone.  I  shall 
probably  make  this  temperance  work  iny  life  business,  and 


40  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

• 
in  order  to  succeed  I  must  get  acquainted  with  the  workers 

and  the  work  in  all  its  branches." 

The  question  being  settled,  he  at  once  planned  to  make 
the  trip  pay  his  expenses.  An  arrangement  was  made  with 
one  or  two  prominent  newspapers  to  write  for  them  daily 
full  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand 
Lodge  sessions.  Appointments  to  lecture  were  made  for 
cities  where  the  workers  had  before  asked  for  his  services. 
Some  engagements  were  unexpectedly  offered  after  the 
close  of  the  session,  enabling  him  to  more  than  realize  his 
expectations  of  "  paying  his  way." 

An  incident  which  occurred  on  the  way  to  Portland 
illustrates  Mr.  Finch's  ready  and  ever-active  sympathy 
with  suffering  and  misfortune.  A  lady,  who  was  a  repre- 
sentative to  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge,  lost  her 
pocketbook  containing  railroad  and  steamer  tickets  and 
all  her  money.  Discovering  the  circumstances,  he  gener- 
ously donated  a  large  share  of  the  money  necessary  to 
replace  the  amount  lost,  though  his  own  funds  were  not 
sufficient  to  pay  his  fare  home. 

The  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  elected  him  to  be  one 
of  its  official  reporters,  thus  making  his  letters  for  the  press 
doubly  valuable. 

At  Portland  Mr.  Finch  learned  most  fully  the  details  of 
the  division  in  the  ranks  of  the  Order,  which  occurred  the 
previous  year  at  the  session  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  by  which  a 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  41 

great  proportion  of  Templars  of  Great  Britain  separated 
themselves  from  the  original  society. 

He  gave  addresses  at  Saco  and  Biddeford,  in  Maine,  and 
at  other  points  on  his  way  home. 

Mrs.  America  A.  Brookbank,  the  present  Eight  "Worthy 
Grand  Superintendent  of  Juvenile  Temples,  mentions  her 
first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Finch  in  the  Portland  meeting, 
and  her  later  association  with  him  in  Good  Templar  work  : 

"  He  came  to  the  Portland  session  of  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  a 
young  man,  full  of  vigor  and  intense  earnestness  in  the  work  of  the 
Order  and  the  cause  of  humanity.  As  a  member  of  the  Literature  Com- 
mittee of  which  he  was  afterward  Chairman,  and  also  having  served  on 
his  Executive  Committee,  my  regard  for  him  as  a  Christian  and  as  a 
philosopher  has  strengthened  as  the  years  have  gone  by. 

"  He  was  a  friend  to  the  children,  and  the  Juvenile  Temple  had  his 
warmest  sympathy  and  best  counsels.  His  earnest  words  and  constant 
devotion  to  this  department  of  Good  Templar  work  will  live  on,  although 
his  hands  are  folded  to  rest.  No  one  can  fill  his  place." 

Dr.  Oronhyatekha,  one  of  the  most  sagacious  and  trusted 
friends  and  advisers  of  Mr.  Finch  in  his  last  years,  gives 
some  interesting  reminiscences  in  the  International  Good 
Templar  : 

"  Brother  Finch's  first  appearance  in  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge 
was  in  1877,  at  Portland,  Me.,  the  first  session  held  after  the  great  split 
at  Louisville.  He  came  as  a  visitor  from  Eochester,  N.  Y.  During  the 
session  he  acted  as  a  reporter  for  one  of  the  daily  papers  published  in 
the  city. 

"  His  reports  were  considered  by  some  a  little  too  full  and  detailed, 


42  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

and  there  was  some  talk  of  bringing  him  before  the  bar  of  the  house. 
When  he  came  to  me  for  a  brief  sketch  of  myself,  I  said  to  him  : 
'  Brother  Finch,  you  had  better  not  say  anything  about  me,  for  if  you 
say  anything  favorable  of  me,  you  may  be  hauled  up  for  it  by  the  dom- 
inant party  in  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  ;  and  if  you  say  anything 
bad  about  me,  I'll  have  your  scalp  sure. '  It  seems  but  yesterday,  I  re- 
member him  so  well  standing  before  me  with  a  scornful  smile  oil  his 
manly  though  youthful  countenance,  as  he  replied,  '  I  guess  they  won't 
try  to  muzzle  the  press.'  The  next  session  was  held  in  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  and  he  appeared  as  one  of  the  representatives  from  Nebraska, 
and  at  once  took  a  commanding  position  in  the  debates  of  the  Eight 
Worthy  Grand  Lodge.  Then  followed  the  sessions  at  Detroit  and  New 
York,  at  both  of  which  Brother  Finch  served  on  the  Finance  Committee. 
He  had  already  established  himself  as  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  councils 
of  the  Supreme  Body.  During  the  session  at  New  York,  in  1881,  he 
moved  the  appointment  of  the  Literature  Committee,  which  was  carried, 
and  the  following  were  named  as  the  first  Literature  Committee  :  John 
B.  Finch,  Nebraska  ;  James  Black,  Pennsylvania  ;  George  B.  Katzen- 
stein,  California  ;  A.  J.  Chase,  Maine  ;  John  O'Donnell,  New  York  ; 
Lillie  J.  Disbrow,  Connecticut. 

He  retained  the  chairmanship  of  this  most  important  committee  til] 
he  was  elected  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar.  The  following  year,  at 
the  Topeka,  Kan.,  session  he  began  to  show  his  individuality,  and  we 
find  this  unprecedented  record  :  '  Moved  by  Eepresentative  Finch,  of 
Nebraska,  to  proceed  with  an  informal  ballot  for  Eight  Worthy  Grand 
Templar.  Carried.'  This  unusual  course  led  to  the  election  of  his 
friend,  Brother  T.  D.  Kanouse.  The  next  session  of  the  Eight  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge  was  held  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  an  examination  of  the 
records  will  show  that  no  one  in  the  body  took  a  more  active  part  in  its 
deliberations.  It  is  related  that  at  this  session  Colonel  Hickman  suc- 
cessfully opposed  one  of  Brother  Finch's  schemes,  but  though  defeated 
he  was  not  conquered.  Taking  advantage,  at  a  later  stage  of  the  session, 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  Fitfctt.  43 

of  the  temporary  absence  of  the  colonel,  he  succeeded  in  having  the 
matter  reconsidered,  and  then  adopted  by  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand 
Lodge,  to  the  great  chagrin  of  the  colonel.  The  following  year  the 
Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  session  was  held  in  the  Palmer  House, 
Chicago.  It  was  at  this  session  that  Mr.  Finch's  friends  first  brought 
him  forward  as  a  candidate  for  the  Templar's  Chair,  but  he  was  defeated, 
though  lacking  only  three  votes  of  an  election.  The  writer  of  these 
reminiscences  was  a  candidate  for  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Counsellor  on 
the  same  ticket  with  Brother  Finch,  and  was  elected  mainly  through  his 
personal  exertions.  Immediately  after  the  election,  Brother  Finch  came 
to  me  to  offer  his  congratulations,  and  said,  '  Now  you  must  prepare 
yourself,  for  we  will  run  you  for  the  chair  next  year.'  I  replied, '  Under 
no  circumstances  will  I  stand  in  your  way.  The  Order  needs  you,  and 
you  must  again  consent  to  run  next  year.'  The  next  session  was  held 
in  Washington,  in  1884,  and  Brother  Finch  was  elected  Eight  Worthy 
Grand  Templar  by  a  large  majority.  He  was  re-elected  by  acclamation 
at  Toronto,  Eichmond,  and  Saratoga,  and  we  are  sure  could  have  held 
the  chair  against  all  comers  for  an  indefinite  time,  for  each  year  he  be- 
came stronger  in  the  aff fictions  of  -the  members  of  the  Eight  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge.  It  would  seem  that  Providence  raised  up  John  B.  Finch 
and  gave  him  specially  to  the  Good  Templars,  to  effect  the  reunion  of 
the  Order.  We  feel  satisfied  that  no  other  man  could  have  kept  in  hand 
the  apparently  conflicting  elements,  and  eventually  have  succeeded  in 
harmonizing  them  in  a  united  body.  Now  that  we  have  been  reunited, 
we  feel  sure  that  there  are  no  forces  existing  in  the  Order  that  could 
again  sever  the  bonds  that  unite  us  in  the  one  world-wide  international 
society.  This  grand  work  of  itself  would  have  proved  an  enduring 
monument  to  the  memory  of  our  noble  and  self-sacrificing  chief- 
tain." 

At  Minneapolis,  Minn.,  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge 
held  its  twenty-fourth  session  in  1878.     The  Grand  Lodge 


44  THE  LIVE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

of  Nebraska  had  elected  Mr.  Finch  as  its  representative  at 
that  session.  Mrs.  Finch  accompanied  him,  and  relates  the 
interesting  incidents  of  the  journey.  Visiting  Fort  Snelling 
and  the  Falls  of  Minnehaha,  he  recounted  the  history  and 
the  legends  connected  with  them,  vividly  picturing  the 
past,  and  adding  greatly  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  coterie  of 
Templars  who  surrounded  him. 

He  loved  nature,  and  all  that  was  beautiful  in  natural 
scenery  quickly  caught  his  attention.  He  desired  to  see 
and  learn  all  that  could  be  discovered  in  nature,  art,  or 
science,  and  it  was  an  especial  delight  to  him  to  visit  the 
scenes  with  which  he  had  become  familiar  in  his  early  years 
by  reading  and  study. 

In  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge,  of  which  he  was  now 
for  the  first  time  a  member,  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  debate,  he  took  an  active  part,  never  missing 
a  minute  of  the  morning,  afternoon,  and  evening  sessions, 
and  never  being  late  in  arriving.  This  was  a  prominent 
characteristic  of  all  his  connection  with  Good  Templar 
work.  When  the  hour  for  opening  a  meeting  arrived  he 
was  always  present,  and  when  the  gavel  fell  at  closing  he 
was  in  his  place. 

From  1877  till  the  time  of  his  death  he  missed  no  session 
of  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  nor  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  his  own  State.  His  comprehensive  grasp  of  the 
whole  subject  of  temperance  in  all  its  relations  to  society, 
his  quick  perception  of  defects  in  any  plan  or  system  of 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  45 

work,  his  rapid  recognition  of  the  value  or  worthlessness 
of  remedies  proposed — all  combined  to  make  his  mem- 
bership in  Good  Templar  governing  bodies  a  most  desira- 
ble aid  in  perfecting  their  methods  and  achieving  their 
aims. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

RED    RIBBON    WORK. 

Blessed  is  he  who  has  found  his  work  ;  let  him  ask  no  other  blessed- 
ness. He  has  a  work,  a  life  purpose  ;  he  has  found  it  and  will  follow  it. 
— Carlyle. 

Thine  to  work  as  well  as  pray, 
Clearing  thorny  wrongs  away  ; 
Plucking  up  the  weeds  of  sin, 
Letting  heaven's  warm  sunshine  in. 

Whither. 

T~N  the  years  1876  and  1877  there  was  a  widespread  and 
-*-  enthusiastic  revival  of  some  of  the  methods  of  work 
which  had  proved  temporarily  successful  in  the  old  Wash- 
ingtonian  movement.  Slight  changes  in  plan,  and  possibly 
improvements,  were  made,  but  it  was  substantially  the 
moral  suasion  effort  of  1840  to  1847  repeated. 

In  the  hands  of  broad  and  liberal  leaders  the  Red  and  the 
Blue  Ribbon  systems  became  valuable  agencies  for  the  pro- 
mulgation of  temperance  sentiment  and  the  dissemination 
of  correct  ideas  concerning  the  reform.  But  even  where 
the  broadest  liberality  pervaded  the  leadership,  the  inevi- 
table reaction  which  followed  the  periods  of  "Ribbon" 
excitements  in  the  villages  or  cities  where  revival  meetings 
were  held,  often  affected  disastrously  the  older  organizations, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  47 

which  had  fought  for  years,  patiently  and  almost  single- 
handed,  the  moral  battles  of  the  community.  Good  Tem- 
plars, Sons  of  Temperance,  and  kindred  societies,  giving 
the  whole  power  and  strength  of  their  membership  to  aid 
the  new  movement,  sometimes  found  that  when  the  enthu- 
siasm of  nightly  public  meetings  had  died  away,  it  was 
more  difficult  than  before  to  arouse  the  people  to  take  up 
the  plodding,  self-denying  routine  work  of  the  fraternal 
temperance  bands.  Indeed,  many  members  of  these  soci- 
eties were  borne  along  on  the  wave  of  revival  excitement, 
like  the  drift  on  the  inflowing  tide,  only  to  be  stranded  at 
its  ebb  upon  the  sandy  shores  of  disappointment  or  despair. 
If  this  disastrous  result  was  possible  under  wise  and  lib- 
eral leadership,  it  was  almost  certain  under  the  management 
of  narrow  and  illiberal  men,  who  here  and  there  took  the 
chief  places  in  the  new  movement.  Men  of  this  stamp 
were  ignorant  of  the  great  principles  underlying  the  tem- 
perance reform,  and  occasionally  one  of  them  imagined,  or 
assumed  that  his  method  alone  had  the  sanction  and 
approval  of  Heaven,  and  that  therefore  it  was  his  duty  to 
malign  and  overturn  every  organization  and  system  of  work 
except  his  own.  Such  influences  were  more  potent  to 
destroy  than  to  build  up.  The  astonishing  results  of  a  few 
days  or  weeks  of  work  in  a  city  so  wrought  upon  the  people 
that  many  of  them  were  ready  to  believe  that  all  other 
methods  of  work  were  ill-judged  and  even  sinful,  if  some 
Blue  Ribbon  apostle  so  declared. 


48  TUE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

Another  danger  in  the  new  movement  soon  became 
apparent.  In  their  eagerness  to  roll  up  huge  lists  of  pledge- 
signers,  a  few  workers  had  adopted  a  loose  and  easy  pledge, 
which  might  mean  abstinence  from  all  alcoholic  beverages 
or  only  from  distilled  liquors,  according  to  the  interpreta- 
tion put  upon  it  by  the  easy  consciences  of  half -con  verted 
topers. 

Most  of  the  workers  in  the  old  temperance  organizations 
felt  that  it  was  neither  right  nor  wise  to  oppose  a  move- 
ment so  vast  in  its  possibilities  for  good,  because  a  few  of 
its  teachers  were  misguided  and  bigoted.  That  there  were 
Blue  Ribbon  leaders  who  entertained  false  views  of  what 
true  total  abstinence  consisted,  an  editorial  which  appeared 
in  the  Western  £rewer  about  this  time  clearly  indicates. 

"  Mr.  Murphy  says  :  '  The  German  can  go  to  the  beer  garden  and 
come  home  perfectly  sober  after  drinking  all  day.  He  is  really  the  most 
sensible  drinker  in  America.' 

"  Now  then,  Mr.  Finch,  you  say  the  Murphy  pledge  '  allows  the  Ger- 
man, who  believes  his  lager  is  not  intoxicating,  to  indulge  as  much  as 
he  pleases.'  Talk  about  a  German  who  believes  his  lager  is  not  intoxi- 
cating !  Don't  he  know  it  is  not  intoxicating  ?  And  does  not  Mr. 
Murphy  know  it  also,  and  does  he  not  say  so,  like  an  honest  man  ? 

"  Mr.  Finch  is  a  good  man  in  his  way,  but  who  made  Mr.  Finch  the 
judge  of  lager,  or  of  what  constitutes  true  temperance  ?  Observe  that 
all  the  other  pledges  are  particular  to  forbid  malt  liquor  by  name.  Mr. 
Murphy's  pledge  does  not  ;  and  he  evidently  means  it  shall  not.  Mr. 
Finch  evidently  does  not  like  Mr.  Murphy's  pledge.  So  much  the  better 
for  the  pledge.  There  is  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  the  true  tem- 
perance men  who  act '  with  malice  toward  none  and  charity  for  all,*  and 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  49 

the  professional  temperance  men  who  act  with  charity  for  none  and 
with  malice  toward  all  who  oppose  them.  The  partnership  between 
them  is  dissolved.  WELCOME,  FRANCIS  MUBPHT." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  pledge  used  by  the  early 
Blue  Ribbon  workers-,  and  referred  to  in  the  Western 
Brewer,  read  : 

"  I,  the  undersigned,  pledge  my  word  and  honor,  God  helping  me,  to 
abstain  from  all  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage,  and  that  I  will  by  all 
honorable  means  encourage  others  to  abstain." 

This  construction  of  the  meaning  of  the  pledge  began  to 
be  generally  accepted.  No  authoritative  denial  of  its  cor- 
rectness came  from  the  Blue  Ribbon  leaders  who  used  it. 
With  such  a  feeling  pervading  the  public  mind,  the  ques- 
tion what  attitude  they  should  assume  toward  the  movement 
became  a  serious  one  with  men  whose  broad  charity  and 
fervent  zeal  in  the  cause  was  a  spar  to  constant  effort  in  its 
behalf. 

These  conditions  Mr.  Finch  fully  appreciated  as  he  looked 
over  the  field  early  in  1877.  Weighing  carefully  yet 
rapidly  the  opposing  arguments,  he  determined  to  under- 
take "  Red  Ribbon"  work,  not  along  the  lines  with  other 
workers  already  occupying  the  same  field,  but  in  harmony 
with  the  ideals  fixed  in  his  mind  by  the  uncompromising 
teachings  of  Good  Templary,  the  society  he  had  loved  so 
long  and  for  the  advancement  of  which  he  had  recently  so 
zealously  labored. 


50  THE  LIFfl  OF  JOHN  B.   FINV& 

Accustomed  to  the  solemn  and  binding  obligation  of  that 
Order,  he  adopted  for  "  Red  Ribbon"  meetings 

"  THE    CHRISTIAN    TKMPLAu'fi    PLEDGE. 

"  I  solemnly  promise,  GOD  HELPING  ME,  that  I  will 
NEVER  make,  buy,  sell,  use,  furnish,  or  cause  to  be  fur- 
nished to  others,  as  a  beverage,  any  spirituous  or  malt 
liquors,  wine,  or  cider, 

"  I  also  promise  to  do  all  in  my  power,  in  all  honorable 
ways,  to  discountenance  the  use  of  these  beverages  in  the 
community." 

Timid  people  feared  that  a  pledge  so  rigid  in  its  exact- 
tions  would  be  rejected  by  many  who  might  otherwise  be 
brought  under  temperance  influence.  But  Mr.  Finch 
scorned  compromise. 

"  I'll  make  that  pledge  win  without  the  change  of  a 
letter,"  he  said.  "I  may  not  get  as  many  signers  as  I 
would  if  I  used  the  weak  pledge,  but  those  I  do  get  will 
be  worth  having.  I  won't  use  a  pledge  with  loopholes  in 
it.  I  would  just  as  soon  have  a  man  drunk  on  whiskey  as 
on  cider  or  beer." 

The  Good  Templar  lodges  of  Western  New  York,  where 
the  Ribbon  excitement  was  at  its  height,  determined  to 
inaugurate  a  similar  work  in  their  several  communities. 
Mr.  Finch  was  selected  as  the  representative  and  leader  of 
the  Order  in  this  new  line  of  work.  For  a  month  or  more 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  51 

he  was  employed  in  the  villages  of  Munroe  County  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Good  Templars  in  the  pledge  work. 
He  used  the  "  Christian  Templar's  pledge"  with  uniform 
success.  In  the  village  of  Bergen,  with  a  total  population 
of  less  than  six  hundred,  at  the  first  meeting  one  hundred 
and  fifty  signed  the  "  iron- clad  "  pledge.  In  a  single 
evening  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  persons,  or  more  than 
one  third  of  the  population  of  the  village,  signed  this 
pledge  in  Brockport. 

The  first  severe  test  of  the  strong  pledge  was  made  in 
Batavia,  N.  Y.,  in  April,  1877.  The  rapidly -growing 
reputation  of  Mr.  Finch  had  gone  before  him.  Added  to 
this,  the  popular  mind  was  full  of  the  excitement  that  was 
then  sweeping  over  the  whole  country. 

Mr.  Finch  laid  the  foundations  of  his  work  deep  and 
sure.  He  began  by  a  calm,  logical  presentation  of  the 
claims  of  total  abstinence,  its  benefits  and  blessings  to  the 
individual,  and  through  individual  development,  its  profit 
to  society.  Every  evening  he  advanced  the  arguments 
along  the  lines  of  his  life  training,  until  the  hearer  was  con- 
fronted with  the  question  : 

"  If  abstinence  is  best  for  the  individual  and  for  society, 
what  right  has  the  saloon  to  exist  ?' ' 

No  fear  of  failure  in  getting  signers,  no  timorousness  lest 
popular  disapproval  should  greet  him,  deterred  John  B. 
Finch  from  his  scathing  denunciation  of  the  institution 
which  scattered  rum-wrecks  everywhere  and  made  Red 


52  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Ribbon  revivals  necessary  in  order  to  save  a  few  of  its  half- 
destroyed  victims. 

Notwithstanding  this  radical  departure  from  established 
methods  of  moral  suasion  and  pledge  work,  the  interest  and 
enthusiasm  steadily  increased.  On  the  fourth  night  a  larger 
audience  gathered  in  the  hall  than  the  room  had  ever  held 
before,  arid  after  that  time  no  building  would  hold  the 
multitudes  who  sought  admission. 

The  ninth  evening  the  pledge  roll  mounted  to  two  thou- 
sand signatures  in  a  village  of  only  four  thousand  population. 
It  was  the  iron-clad  pledge,  "life-long  in  its  duration." 

After  sixteen  nights  in  Batavia  he  commenced  an  engage- 
ment of  two  weeks  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  which  proved  equally 
successful. 

Always  giving  utterance  to  the  most  radical  declarations, 
even  to  conservative  audiences,  his  reasoning  was  plain  and 
his  arguments  so  strong  that  the  most  prejudiced  hearer 
was  compelled  to  admit  his  premises  and  accept  his  con- 
clusions. 

While  employed  in  pledge-gathering  work  he  remem- 
bered the  old  organizations  that  had  "  borne  the  burden 
and  heat  of  the  day."  In  every  city  and  village  he  visited 
in  his  Red  Ribbon  work  he  directed  the  attention  of  the 
new  converts  to  the  existing  temperance  societies,  and 
explained  the  benefits  of  membership  in  them,  lie  invari- 
ably left  these  organizations  stronger  than  he  found  them. 
JJe  urged  the  society  workers  to  gather  up  the  results  of  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  53 

revival  meetings,  and  use  all  their  efforts  to  make  reformed 
men  feel  at  home  in  the  organizations.  So  strongly  was 
this  thought  impressed  upon  the  minds  of  both  the  old 
workers  and  the  new  pledge-signers,  that  permanent  good 
results  followed. 

As  in  the  previous  year,  he  devoted  the  summer  months 
to  the  organization  of  Good  Templar  lodges.  In  each 
locality  he  visited  he  conducted  "  Ribbon"  revivals  for  a 
few  days,  and  then  established  a  lodge  to  carry  on  the  work 
after  his  departure. 

Daring  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1876  and  most  of  1877 
Mr.  Finch  was  accompanied  by  his  wife  in  his  visits  to  the 
different  parts  of  the  State  where  he  was  called  to  lecture. 

One  afternoon  in  September  he  entered  the  room  where 
Mrs.  Finch  was  seated,  and,  in  his  bright,  breezy,  and 
direct  style  of  beginning  a  conversation,  exclaimed  : 

"  Puss,  let's  go  to  Nebraska." 

Mrs.  Finch  could  scarcely  have  been  more  astonished  at 
a  proposition  to  journey  to  Kamtchatka.  Success  was 
crowning  his  efforts  in  New  York  ;  every  obstacle  was  dis- 
appearing from  his  path  ;  from  neighboring  cities  he  was 
receiving  an  increasing  number  of  applications  for  his  time  ; 
his  reputation  as  a  worker  was  daily  extending  ;  loyal 
friends  were  rallying  around  him  ;  no  brighter  prospect  of 
future  usefulness  could  have  been  asked  or  expected. 

It  was  natural  that  Mrs.  Finch  should  inquire  what  had 
led  him  to  this  change  of  plan. 


54  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B,  FINCH. 

"  Oh,  they  need  the  right  kind  of  Red  Kibbon  work  in 
the  West,"  was  Mr.  Finch's  reply. 

"Have  you  had  any  calls  to  go  out  there?"  his  wife 
asked. 

"No." 

"  Have  you  corresponded  with  anybody  in  that  State  ?" 

"No." 

"  Do  you  know  any  of  the  people  ?" 

"No  one  intimately." 

"  Has  your  work  in  New  York  ever  been  heard  of  in 
Nebraska  ?" 

"Probably  not." 

"  How  will  you  get  money  to  go  ?" 

'  Earn  it  on  the  way." 

'  How  do  you  expect  to  gain  a  foothold  in  that  State  ?" 

"  Oh,  easily  enough,"  he  laughingly  answered,  and  his 
eyes  sparkled  with  the  brave,  sanguine  spirit  that  no  doubts 
could  daunt  or  difficulties  defeat.  Then,  growing  more 
serious,  he  continued,  "  Puss,  I  can  win  anywhere,  because 
I  am  doing  work  that  must  be  done." 

Had  Mrs.  Finch  opposed  the  project  he  would  have  hesi- 
tated and  perhaps  abandoned  the  plan,  but  as  soon  as  her 
surprise  was  over  she  answered  : 

"  Very  well,  I  am  ready  to  go." 

Her  firm  belief  that  all  truth  is  from  God,  and  that  He 
gives  to  those  who  lean  upon  and  trust  Him  special  guid- 
ance, leads  her  to  act  promptly  and  decisively,  without 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  55 

argument  or  delay.  This  was  one  of  the  occasions  when 
the  way  seemed  to  open  clear  and  plain,  and  all  doubts  dis- 
appeared as  suddenly  as  they  came. 

The  decision  was  made.  In  the  two  or  three  weeks  that 
followed  Mr.  Finch  lectured  in  Niagara,  Orleans,  and 
Monroe  counties  in  Western  New  York.  By  the  third  day 
of  October  he  had  saved  a  sufficient  sum  to  purchase  tickets 
to  Nebraska  for  himself  and  his  wife,  and  on  that  day  they 
commenced  the  journey. 

Two  days  later  they  arrived  in  Nebraska  City  with  just 
seven  dollars  as  the  total  of  their  possessions.  They  at- 
tended a  meeting  of  the  Good  Templar  lodge  on  the  even- 
ing of  their  arrival.  At  that  meeting  the  acquaintance  with 
some  of  the  earnest  Templar  workers  was  made.  On  the 
following  day  the  Good  Templar  leaders  introduced  him 
to  all  the  clergymen  of  the  city,  to  whom  he  unfolded  his 
plans  for  a  Red  Ribbon  revival.  They  cordially  approved, 
and  the  next  day,  Sunday,  October  7th,  was  fixed  for  the 
beginning  of  the  work. 

Only  two  days  elapsed  after  his  arrival  in  the  State,  un- 
known and  unheralded,  before  he  had  inaugurated,  with 
the  cordial  co-operation  of  all  the  moral  elements  of  the 
city,  the  most  successful  temperance  revival  ever  conducted 
there. 

He  attended  the  Methodist  service  on  Sunday  morning. 
At  four  in  the  afternoon  and  at  eight  in  the  evening  all  the 
churches  united  in  a  meeting  at  the  Cumberland  Presby- 


56  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

terian  Church.  In  his  first  address  Mr.  Finch  boldly  de- 
clared his  position.  He  denounced  the  liquor  traffic  as  an 
unmixed  evil,  harmful  alike  to  the  individual  drinker  and 
to  society  as  a  whole.  The  license  system  could  in  nowise 
mitigate  the  evil  or  save  society  from  its  ravages.  License 
was  only  a  bargain  with  an  enemy,  a  compromise  with  a 
public  crime.  Compromise  was  always  a  victory  for  wrong. 
Truth,  righteousness,  and  justice  always  surrendered  some 
principle  when  they  consented  to  a  compromise. 

The  courage  of  these  radical  declarations  can  better  be 
understood  after  an  observation  of  the  conditions  of  public 
sentiment  and  business  relations  then  existing  in  Nebraska 
City. 

One  of  the  largest  distilleries  in  the  State  was  in  active 
operation,  and  was  pointed  out  with  pride  by  many  of  the 
business  men  as  a  commercial  enterprise  of  vast  importance 
to  the  development  of  the  city.  An  extensive  brewery, 
which  manufactured  vast  quantities  of  beer  for  shipment  to 
all  parts  of  the  State,  was  almost  equally  an  object  of  pride 
to  the  same  class  of  men.  Saloons  of  every  grade,  from 
the  lowest  criminal  "  dive"  to  the  gilded  palace  of  sin  that 
pandered  to  fashionable  passion  and  aristocratic  vice,  flour- 
ished in  every  part  of  the  city.  Although  these  evil  insti- 
tutions did  not  have  the  sanction  or  approval  of  the  moral 
elements  of  the  community,  the  grip  of  their  political  and 
social  power  was  felt  by  all  the  people.  Business  men 
especially  were  careful  to  avoid  any  expressions  of  disfavor 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  57 

to  the  traffic,  lest  they  might  be  assailed  and  ruined  by  the 
relentless  persecutions  of  the  malignant  and  merciless  rum 
power.  The  terrorism  which  silenced  the  people  extended 
to  the  churches,  and  in  some  pulpits  closed  the  lips  of  the 
pastors. 

Very  little  aggressive  temperance  work  had  been  done 
before  Mr.  Finch's  advent,  most  of  the  speakers  who  had 
previously  visited  the  city  having  belonged  to  the  milder, 
moral  suasion  type  of  workers. 

Outside  of  the  Good  Templar  Lodge,  which  was  by  no 
means  a  strong  body  at  that  time,  it  is  doubtful  if  ten  men 
in  the  whole  city  would  have  admitted  that  the  principle 
of  prohibition  for  the  whole  drunkard-making  business  was 
correct  in  theory  or  possible  in  application. 

On  the  morning  following  the  first  lecture  the  Daily 
Nebraska  Press  said  : 

"  After  prayer  by  Kev.  W.  A.  Hanna,  the  Hon.  John  B.  Finch  was  in- 
troduced. Five  minutes  after  he  commenced  speaking  the  conviction 
was  fastened  upon  every  hearer  that  he  was  listening  to  one  who  was 
thoroughly  in  earnest,  and  that  boldness  in  speaking  the  truth  was  with 
him  a  settled  principle.  This  earnest  boldness  on  the  part  of  the  speaker 
is  surely  refreshing.  He  said  the  discourse  was  for  Christian  hearers, 
who  composed  the  principal  part  of  his  audience,  and  it  was  so  pointed 
that  scarcely  a  person  in  the  entire  congregation  felt  there  was  much 
chance  to  escape  the  terrible  woe  pronounced  in  the  lesson  read." 

The  Sunday  evening  topic  was  "  The  Misunderstanding 
of  the  Nature  and  Effect  of  Alcohol."  The  Daily  News 


68  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

reporter  caught  and  preserved  some  strong  sentences  from 
this  address  : 

"To  claim  that  stimulants  are  necessary  for  man's  existence  is  to 
claim  that,  at  the  creation,  God  did  not  know  the  wants  of  the  creatures 
He  made." 

"  The  greater  part  of  man's  ills  have  come  from  disobedience  to  Divine 
law,  and  the  substitution  of  stimulants  in  the  place  of  drinks  prepared 
by  the  Almighty  has  caused  more  crime,  sin,  and  misery  than  any  other 
violation  of  law." 

On  Monday  evening  the  address  was  on  "  Moderate 
Drinking."  He  commenced  with  the  startling  announce- 
ment : 

"  There  are  no  moderate  drinkers.  The  term  receives  a  different 
definition  from  each  exponent— one  claiming  that  it  means  one  glass, 
another  two,  another  three,  each  man  claiming  that  the  number  of 
glasses  he  drinks  is  moderate." 

' '  All  liquor  drinking  is  drunkenness  in  various  degrees.  Any  man  who 
drinks  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  is  in  some  degree  a  drunkard." 

"The  sophistries,  '  What  /  drink  will  do  me  no  hurt,'  and  '  I  have 
brains  enough  to  drink  or  let  it  alone,'  are  the  devil's  decoy  ducks, 
which  have  led  many  a  noble  youth  into  paths  of  disgrace." 

"  No  man  believes  he  is  a  drunkard  until  he  attempts  to  reform." 

' '  The  moderate  drunkard  is  a  more  dangerous  man  in  the  commu- 
nity than  the  common  drunkard." 

On  the  third  evening  the  church  was  filled.  The  local 
newspapers  expressed  their  surprise  that  a  temperance 
speaker  had  succeeded  in  attracting  so  large  an  attendance. 
For  the  first  time  public  attention  was  arrested.  Mr.  Finch 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  59 

canvassed  the  subject  of  "  Drunkards,  How  Made  and 
How  Keformed." 

It  had  been  decided  to  continue  the  meetings  for  one 
week.  The  interest  and  attendance  nightly  increased.  No 
room  could  be  secured  that  would  accommodate  the  people. 
Before  the  end  of  the  week  it  was  determined  to  hold  the 
meetings  through  the  second  week.  The  pledge  roll  grew 
larger  every  day.  When  the  series  of  meetings  closed  it 
was  found  that  more  than  sixteen  hundred  names  had  been 
enrolled. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Nebraska  City  Mr.  Finch  wrote 
a  letter  to  an  Eastern  paper,  for  which  he  was  a  regular 
correspondent,  describing  the  social  conditions  and  giving 
some  plain  statements  which  might  have  severely  wounded 
the  local  pride  of  sensitive  people.  A  copy  of  the  paper 
containing  this  letter  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  certain 
saloon-keepers,  they  made  a  persistent  effort  to  embitter  the 
people  against  the  writer  of  it,  and  by  thus  arousing  popu- 
lar resentment,  to  break  up  the  meetings  and  destroy  the 
influence  of  the  speaker.  But  these  devices  of  the  enemy 
signally  failed.  The  work  went  on  uninterruptedly,  and 
when  the  last  meeting  of  the  series  was  ended  the  cause  of 
temperance  was  more  honored  and  the  saloon  more  despised 
than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  city. 

Lincoln  next  claimed  Mr.  Finch's  attention.  Before  the 
close  of  his  first  week  in  Nebraska  City  very  urgent  invita- 
tions had  been  received  from  Lincoln  temperance  men,  ask- 


60  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

ing  him  to  visit  their  city  immediately.  He  had  named 
October  14th  as  the  date  on  which  he  could  commence  a  series 
of  meetings  for  them,  but  the  earnest  desire  of  the  people 
of  Nebraska  City  that  he  should  remain  with  them  longer 
induced  him  to  postpone  his  visit  for  one  week. 

On  Saturday,  October  20th,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Finch, 
he  arrived  in  Lincoln,  and  was  tendered  a  splendid  recep- 
tion at  the  Commercial  Hotel. 

While  the  State  capital  was  at  this  time  cursed  by  twenty- 
seven  saloons,  whose  power  was  felt  in  the  community, 
there  had  always  been  a  few  dauntless  spirits  in  the  temper- 
ance ranks  who  bore  the  banners  of  the  cause  valiantly. 

The  day  following  Mr.  Finch's  arrival  in  Lincoln  was 
Sunday,  and  had  been  fixed  for  the  opening  meeting.  He 
attended  the  Methodist  service  in  the  morning,  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  meeting  in  the  afternoon,  and 
in  the  evening  opened  the  series  of  meetings  in  the  Opera 
House. 

Hon.  II.  W.  Hardy,  ex-Mayor,  in  a  letter  briefly  review- 
ing this  and  later  work,  thus  forcibly  expresses  his  first  and 
later  impressions  concerning  Mr.  Finch  and  his  Red  Ribbon 
and  other  temperance  work  : 

"  I  first  met  John  B.  Finch  October  21st,  1877.  I  was  first  impressed 
with  his  youthful  appearance,  so  fresh,  so  fair.  My  second  thought 
was,  '  He  bears  no  scars  of  drunken  debauch,  no  signs  of  wild  oats  sown." 
That  was  a  relief.  So  many  of  our  temperance  workers  bear  the  Cain 
marks,  which  reformation  cannot  wholly  efface. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  61 

"  He  gave  his  first  lecture  that  evening.  Before  he  had  half  finished 
my  vote  was  unanimous  that  he  filled  the  bill.  From  that  time  on  he 
always  stood  first  in  the  temperance  heart  of  Lincoln.  He  took  up  his 
home  here,  and  no  wonder  that  we  loved  him  most,  because  we  knew 
him  best.  The  dirty  tongue  of  slander  wagged  against  him,  but  it  had 
no  effect  here,  unless  it  was  to  strengthen  the  love  we  bore  him.  When 
he  died  the  whole  city  was  in  mourning.  Oh,  that  he  could  have  lived, 
as  did  Wendell  Phillips,  to  see  his  labor  crowned  with  success — the  in- 
toxicating  bowl  and  the  slave  chain  both  buried  in  the  same  half 
century  !" 

Edward  B.  Fairfield,  then  Chancellor  of  the  University 
of  Nebraska,  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Finch  during 
these  meetings,  and  has  written  concerning  him  : 

"  I  knew  Mr.  Finch  well,  and  was  glad  to  know  him  as  my  friend. 
And  no  one  could  know  him  and  not  esteem  him  very  highly.  His  abil- 
ities on  the  platform  were  matchless.  His  speeches,  I  think,  were 
always  extempore,  and  yet  his  sentences  might  have  fallen  into  stereo- 
type plates,  with  no  need  of  reconstruction.  They  were  very  effective, 
blending  strong  argument,  high  moral  tone,  keen  wit,  and  irresistible 
humor.  His  self-command  was  superb,  while  his  self-consciousness 
was  scarcely  perceptible,  and  never  obtruded  itself  in  any  offensive  way. 
In  his  death  the  temperance  cause  has  lost  its  most  effective  advocate, 
and  Prohibition  its  ablest  champion." 

The  first  series  of  meetings  in  Lincoln  continued  every 
night  for  three  weeks  with  unabated  interest.  On  the 
week-day  evenings  meetings  were  held  in  the  largest  of  the 
churches,  and  on  Sabbath  the  people  gathered  at  the 
Opera  House.  It  mattered  not  what  place  was  selected, 
no  audience-room  in  the  city  could  furnish  even  standing 
room  for  all  those  who  sought  admission. 


62  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

As  in  his  previous  work,  he  taught  the  most  radical  doc- 
trines, and  while  pleading  with  the  drinker  and  the  drunk- 
ard he  never  forgot  to  hurl  the  anathemas  of  just  indignation 
and  wrath  against  the  licensed  pitfalls  society  permitted  to 
be  placed  in  their  pathway,  making  reform  ten  times  more 
difficult,  if  not  entirely  impossible.  Some  of  the  lectures 
of  this  course  were  so  highly  appreciated  that  a  universal 
demand  for  their  repetition  was  made.  His  address  "  To 
Girls,"  given  in  the  Opera  House  Saturday  evening, 
November  3d,  was  one  of  these  ;  on  the  following  evening 
it  was  repeated  in  the  same  place  to  a  vast  concourse  of 
people. 

November  llth  the  closing  meeting  in  the  Opera  House 
was  held.  The  Lincoln  Journal,  in  its  report  of  it,  said  : 

"  The  Opera  House  was  crowded  as  never  before.  Every  seat  on  the 
lower  floor  and  in  the  galleries  was  taken,  and  all  the  chairs  from  the 
stage  were  brought  out.  Over  two  hundred,  unable  to  find  seats,  stood 
up,  and  many,  unable  to  gain  admission  at  all,  went  away.  Mr.  Finch 
took  the  platform  and  made  the  most  eloquent,  impassioned,  and  argu- 
mentative discourse  that  he  has  yet  given.  His  remarks  were  mainly 
upon  the  so-called  right  of  the  saloon-keepers  to  sell  that  which  destroys 
the  reason  of  men." 

On  Monday  evening  the  Methodist  church  was  filled  with 
the  reformed  men  and  old  temperance  workers,  who  had 
become  very  much  attached  to  Mr.  Finch  during  his  stay 
in  the  city.  Tearful  "  Good-bys"  were  said  and  blessings 
devout  and  heartfelt  were  showered  upon  him. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  63 

The  results  of  the  three  weeks  of  work  had  far  exceeded 
the  expectations  of  the  most  sanguine  friends  of  the  cause. 
Over  twenty-one  hundred  persons,  or  more  than  an  average 
of  one  hundred  each  evening,  had  signed  the  pledge.  A 
large  number  of  drinking  men  were  permanently  reformed. 
Ten  years  later,  many  of  these  reformed  men  could  be  found 
in  Lincoln,  sober,  honorable,  and  prosperous  citizens,  re- 
spected by  even  the  men  who  remember  their  earlier  dis- 
sipation. 

A  Red  Ribbon  Club  was  organized  on  the  most  substan- 
tial basis.  Under  the  skilful  management  of  George  B. 
Skinner,  who  has  been  for  more  than  ten  years  its  presi- 
dent, the  interest  has  been  steadily  maintained,  and  regular 
weekly  meetings  have  been  held  almost  without  interrup- 
tion. The  Lincoln  Red  Ribbon  Club  still  flourishes,  per- 
haps the  oldest  and  most  successful  club '  in  the  United 
States-. 

In  establishing  the  Red  Ribbon  Club  Mr.  Finch  did  not 
forget  the  Good  Templar  Lodge  and  kindred  societies. 
Large  accessions  to  their  membership  were  obtained  through 
his  influence. 

A  children's  temperance  society  was  organized,  and  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  revival  a  daily  morning  prayer- 
meeting  was  held. 

From  Lincoln  Mr.  Finch  carried  the  campaign  to  Seward, 
where  results  were  more  speedy  and  marvellous  than  at 
any  point  in  the  State  previously  visited.  On  the  fourth 


64  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

day  of  the  revival  the  gratifying  announcement  was  made 
that  two  saloon-keepers  had  closed  their  doors  and  gone  out 
of  the  business.  In  the  single  week  in  which  meetings 
were  held  over  one  thousand  signed  the  pledge.  The 
village  contained  but  twelve  hundred  inhabitants,  and 
therefore  some  of  these  pledge-signers  were  gathered  from 
the  surrounding  country,  where  the  enthusiasm  of  the  work 
had  reached.  Farmers  from  ten,  fifteen,  and  twenty  miles 
away  came  to  Seward  every  evening,  and  after  the  close  of 
the  service,  which  often  lasted  until  eleven  o'clock,  drove 
to  their  homes. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  year  1STT  and  all  of  1878 
he  continued  the  revival  work  in  Nebraska,  except  for  the 
months  of  June  and  July  of  the  latter  year,  when  he  trav- 
elled in  Wisconsin  under  the  auspices  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Good  Templars. 

Throughout  Nebraska,  in  the  larger  cities,  in  the  smaller 
villages,  and  in  the  country  hamlets,  the  work  was  uni- 
formly snccessf  nl,  hundreds  of  the  hardest  drinkers  signing 
the  pledge  and  uniting  with  temperance  organizations. 

In  this  work  he  never  followed  the  beaten  tracks  and 
regulation  grooves.  He  never  adopted  a  plan  simply 
because  that  plan  had  some  time  been  prospered  elsewhere, 
or  because  it  had  been  generally  accepted  as  best.  He 
gathered  the  fruits  of  his  campaigns  into  Good  Templar 
lodges,  Red  Ribbon  clubs,  Temples  of  Honor,  or  kindred 
societies,  either  of  which  he  organized,  as  seemed  best 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  65 

adapted  to  meet  the  special  requirements  of  the  commu- 
nities in  which  he  worked. 

In  all  the  larger  towns  he  remained  about  ten  days  or  two 
weeks,  and  in  the  smaller  villages  from  five  to  seven  days. 

An  incident  at  York  illustrates  the  absorbing  interest 
which  these  meetings  aroused  everywhere. 

The  City  Hall  was  in  the  second  story  of  a  large  frame 
building.  The  architect  and  builder  had  not  provided 
sufficient  strength  of  timber  to  support  without  deflection 
the  great  weight  of  the  throngs  of  people  who  gathered 
nightly.  The  dangerous  condition  of  the  building  was 
freely  discussed  by  the  citizens  on  the  streets  and  in  their 
homes.  But  even  the  fears  for  personal  safety  did  not 
deter  the  same  throngs  of  listeners  from  assembling  each 
evening. 

At  another  town,  in  his  meeting  one  evening  the  plaster- 
ing on  the  side  walls  parted,  indicating  that  the  floor  had 
settled  several  inches.  The  wild  impulse  to  rush  from  the 
building  seized  the  audience.  Before  they  half  realized 
their  danger,  and  while  most  of  them  were  yet  sitting,  Mr. 
Finch  comprehended  the  situation,  and  raising  his  voice, 
called  out  : 

"Don't  move,  as  you  value  your  lives.  Sit  perfectly 
still.  Let  those  nearest  the  door  leave  the  room  first.  Go 
one  by  one  and  step  lightly." 

The  order  was  obeyed  implicitly  and  a  serious  catastrophe 
averted. 


66  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  D.    FINCH. 

At  North  Platte,  then  on  the  far  frontier,  some  disturb- 
ance was  feared.  It  was  a  resort  for  "cowboys."  The 
vast  grazing  regions  on  every  side  of  the  town  were  wholly 
unsettled  except  by  the  "  ranchers"  who  owned  or  attended 
the  large  herds  of  cattle.  North  Platte  was  the  supply 
depot  for  all  the  ranches  within  a  radius  of  a  hundred  miles 
to  the  north,  west,  and  south.  On  the  occasions  when  they 
visited  the  town  for  the  purchase  of  supplies  or  to  load 
cattle  for  transportation  to  market,  it  was  the  nearly  uni- 
versal custom  of  the  cowboys  to  indulge  in  a  prolonged 
debauch.  In  these  cases  it  was  not  uncommon  for  a  band 
of  these  drunken  horsemen  of  the  plains  to  ride  through 
the  streets  spurring  their  ponies  to  a  furious  run,  and  firing 
their  revolvers  at  every  living  being  in  sight,  out  of  doors 
or  within.  If  there  were  no  men,  women,  or  children  to 
be  seen,  the  dogs,  pigs,  and  chickens  became  the  targets 
for  their  shots.  Sometimes  they  rode  on  horseback  into  the 
saloons,  and  after  driving  the  bar-tenders  out,  proceeded  to 
coolly  shoot  the  necks  off  all  the  decanters  on  the  shelves. 
Nobody  dared  dispute  the  cowboys'  dominion.  Saloons 
outnumbered  all  legitimate  business  enterprises  combined 
more  than  three  to  one.  Next  after  the  cowboy  the  rum- 
shop  reigned  supreme.  Between  these  two  controlling 
forces  there  was  little  comfort  for  the  Christian  citizen,  and 
less  hope  for  the  radical  temperance  reformer. 

Contrary  to  all  expectation,  Mr.  Finch's  meetings  at 
North  Platte  were  not  only  undisturbed,  but  were  marked 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  67 

by  a  degree  of  wild  enthusiasm  unequalled  elsewhere.  The 
houses  were  filled,  and  hundreds  gathered  around  the  win- 
dows, standing  on  boxes,  barrels,  and  quickly  constructed 
platforms,  waving  their  hats  and  shouting  their  applause. 
Cowboys  from  far  and  near  came  nightly  to  listen,  and 
hundreds  of  them  left  their  names  inscribed  on  the  pledge 
roll. 

From  the  date  of  this  revival  the  moral  status  of  North 
Platte  has  steadily  improved.  Though  still  cursed  by 
saloon  dictation  in  its  political  affairs,  the  old  regime  of 
rioting  and  disturbance  has  been  succeeded  by  the  reign  of 
law  and  order. 

In  Omaha  he  commenced  a  series  of  meetings  September 
12th,  and  closed  November  10th,  1878,  making  fifty-eight 
consecutive  speeches.  All  the  following  week  was  devoted 
to  the  organization  of  Red  Ribbon  clubs  and  Good  Tem- 
plar lodges  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  and  on  the  next 
Sunday,  November  lYth,  he  delivered  two  addresses,  mak- 
ing sixty  in  the  series.  The  Omaha  Republican  reports 
one  of  the  earlier  meetings  of  this  series  : 

"  Last  night  the  fifth  regular  temperance  meeting  was  held  in  the 
Baptist  church.  The  'large  audience-room  was  full.  Seats  were  at  a 
premium,  many  standing  during  the  entire  evening.  Mr.  Finch  was  in 
his  happiest  mood  and  delivered  a  telling  address,  which  was  again  and 
again  interrupted  with  applause.  His  explanation  of  the  reasons  for 
wearing  the  Ked  Ribbon  was  forcible  and  to  the  point.  He  said  and 
proved  by  apt  illustrations  that  every  honest  temperance  man  should 
wear  it.  First,  because  the  saloon-keeper  opposed  the  wearing  of  it. 


68  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Second,  to  stimulate  his  own  zeal,  and  to  be  counted  on  the  right  side. 
Third,  to  assist  the  weak  and  trembling  victim  of  the  cup.  He  pre- 
dicted that  the  saloon-keepers  would  soon  put  it  on  in  ridicule,  wear  it 
for  a  time,  and  then,  as  the  movement  progressed,  take  it  off  and  try  to 
compel  or  drive  others  to  take  it  off.  A  majority  of  so-called  or  self- 
styled  temperance  men  who  excuse  themselves  from  wearing  the  ribbon, 
simply  lack  moral  courage  to  wear  it.  The  object  of  this  movement  in 
Omaha  is  to  save  men  and  prevent  3  oung  men  from  falling.  The  way 
to  save  drunkards  is  by  individual  effort.  This  effort  must  be  put  forth 
by  every  true  man  and  woman.  This  work  is  not  Finch's  work,  it  is  the 
people's  work,  and  he  is  here  to  assist  them,  not  to  have  them  assist 
him.  The  moral  people  of  Omaha  are  responsible  for  the  moral  condi- 
tion of  the  city.  If  every  church  and  Christian  in  the  city  had  always 
done  their  duty  there  would  be  no  need  for  an  extra  temperance  move- 
ment. The  only  question  to  be  settled  is  simply,  '  Is  there  a  necessity 
for  a  temperance  reformation  in  Omaha  ?  '  Every  man  and  woman  who 
says  '  Yes '  to  the  proposition  should  don  the  ribbon  and  go  to  work. 
The  thing  to  learn  at  the  outset  is  that  the  drunkard  is  a  brother,  and 
go  with  the  spirit  of  love  for  him  and  pity  for  his  condition,  rather  than 
recrimination  for  his  errors  and  sins.  These  thoughts  were  illustrated  in 
the  way  that  Finch  can  alone  illustrate,  and  the  effect  upon  the  audience 
was  shown  by  the  large  number  who  went  forward  and  enrolled  them- 
selves among  the  temperance  ranks  at  the  close  of  the  meeting. 

"  The  meeting  will  be  held  to-night  at  the  same  place,  and  it  will  be 
necessary  for  you  to  get  there  by  eight  o'clock  if  you  want  a  seat.  You 
can't  afford  to  stay  away." 

Nowhere  was  the  hostility  of  the  saloons  more  pro- 
nounced and  bitter  than  in  Omaha.  The  dram-shop  had 
too  long  dominated  that  city  to  relax  its  grip  at  the  behest 
of  a  Red  Ribbon  "  fanatic." 

From  early  in  the  '50's  Omaha  had  been  the  terminal 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  69 

point  of  Western  settlement,  and  the  initial  point  of  Western 
adventure.  When  the  "gold  fever"  lured  thousands  of 
men  to  the  trial  of  the  unknown  dangers  of  the  lonely 
plains  and  frowning  mountain- passes,  in  their  search  for 
sudden  wealth,  Omaha  became  one  of  the  points  of  depar- 
ture for  the  long  and  tedious  journeys.  Beyond,  there  were 
neither  towns  nor  settlements.  Long  trains  of  white- cov- 
ered wagons  daily  wound  their  way  over  the  Omaha  bluffs 
toward  the  "  trail  "  upon  the  level  prairies  that  stretched 
away  to  the  westward  for  hundreds  of  miles,  bare,  monot- 
onous and  uninviting. 

In  those  days  Omaha  was  a  pandemonium  of  evil  spirits. 
The  saloon  bore  regal  sway.  No  one  dared  attempt  its 
uncrowning,  or  to  break  the  sceptre  of  its  sovereignty. 

While  it  is  true  that  many  good  men  made  the  perilous 
journey  of  the  plains,  a  vast  number  of  men  from  the  worst 
element  of  human  society  followed  the  trail  leading  toward 
the  land  of  gold.  For  these,  Omaha  furnished  the  last 
opportunity  for  the  gratification  of  their  lusts  and  passions 
for  many  weeks.  Gambling,  prostitution  and  drunken- 
ness held  high  carnival  day  and  night. 

Before  the  visit  of  Mr.  Finch  great  changes  had  been 
wrought.  The  country  beyond  had  been  settled  by  sober 
and  industrious  farmers.  Legitimate  trade  had  increased, 
and  as  the  railroads  reached  further  and  further  westward, 
much  of  the  vicious  and  criminal  floating  population  was 
borne  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  "  river  city." 


70  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

But  while  population  and  pursuits  had  rapidly  changed 
and  improved,  the  terrorism  of  the  hundred  and  fifty  rum- 
shops  still  remained.  As  night  after  night,  under  the 
magical  power  of  Finch's  eloquence,  the  crowds  of  old- 
time  drinkers  came  forward  and  signed  that  strong  pledge 
of  life-long  abstinence,  the  rage  of  the  saloon-keepers  knew 
no  bounds.  Open  threats  of  violence  were  bandied  on  the 
streets.  The  very  air  seemed  loaded  with  the  menace  of 
murder  and  assassination. 

The  few  brave,  loyal,  and  determined  temperance  workers 
armed  themselves  heavily  and  sent  a  detail  of  several  armed 
men  to  accompany  Mr.  Finch  wherever  he  went.  At  the 
urgent  solicitation  of  friends,  he  purchased  revolvers  for 
both  himself  and  wife,  which  they  habitually  carried. 

Threatening  letters  came  through  the  mail,  others  were 
delivered  by  messenger  boys,  and  at  different  times,  upon 
rising  in  the  morning,  they  found  murder-hinting  missives 
which  during  the  night  had  been  placed  under  the  door  of 
their  sleeping-room,  which  was  on  the  second  floor  of  a 
quiet  boarding-house.  These  letters  were  evidently  written 
with  the  hope  that  they  would  intimidate  Mr.  Finch  and 
his  friends,  and  prevent  any  further  encroachments  upon 
the  domain  of  the  drunkard-makers.  Many  of  the  missives 
were  written  in  blood,  with  the  emblems  of  murder  and 
death  conspicuously  displayed.  On  one  sheet  found  under 
the  door,  a  skull  and  cross-bones,  with  a  coffin  had  been 
sketched,  below  which  was  written  in  red  characters  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  71 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH, 
if  you  don't  leave  town  in  three  days 
THIS  WILL  BE  YOUR  FATE." 

Ruffianly  men  dogged  his  footsteps  whenever  he  appeared 
on  the  streets,  day  or  evening. 

Through  all  the  storm  of  rage  his  work  aroused  in  the 
drinking-places  Mr.  Finch  remained  undaunted.  Addison 
says,  through  one  of  the  characters  in  "  Cato  :" 

"  The  Soul,  secured  in  her  existence,  smiles 
At  the  drawn  dagger  and  defies  its  point." 

And  Mr.  Finch,  conscious  of  the  righteousness  of  his 
cause,  looked  to  God  for  protection  and  went  boldly  for- 
ward. 

The  year  1878  was  one  of  unremitting  labor  for  Mr. 
Finch.  Over  forty  weeks  of  Red  Ribbon  revival  work  in 
Nebraska,  with  scarcely  a  single  evening  for  rest  ;  nine 
weeks  of  Good  Templar  "tent  meetings"  in  Wisconsin, 
in  many  instances  conducting  three  services  daily  ;  visits  to 
the  sessions  of  Nebraska  Grand  Lodge  in  January,  the 
Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge,  the  head  of  the  Order 
throughout  the  world,  in  Minneapolis  in  May,  and  the 
New  York  Grand  Lodge  at  Uticain  August ;  active  partic- 
ipation in  the  deliberations  and  discussions  of  the  morning, 
afternoon,  and  evening  sittings  of  these  bodies,  from  which 
he  could  hardly  refrain  ;  occasional  single  speeches  made 


72  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

by  special  request  in  the  cities  of  other  States — these  mani- 
fold labors  were  crowded  into  the  narrow  limits  of  a  single 
year.  In  1877,  1878,  and  1879  he  averaged  more  than  one 
speech  per  day  for  the  three  years. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  constant  tension  of 
mind  and  body  in  these  ceaseless  efforts  sometimes  proved 
too  much  for  human  endurance.  At  one  time  he  fell 
exhausted  and  fainting  at  the  close  of  his  speech.  At  an- 
other time  he  was  ill  for  nearly  three  weeks,  scarcely  leav- 
ing his  bed  during  the  day,  and  yet  during  this  whole  time, 
in  spite  of  the  protestations  of  wife  and  friends,  he  gave 
an  address  full  of  life  and  fire  each  evening.  Few  persons 
can  realize  the  amount  of  will  power  and  nervous  energy 
required  to  perform  such  tasks.  His  indomitable  zeal  and 
intense  interest  in  the  salvation  of  men  from  the  drink 
curse  sustained  him  in  these  almost  superhuman  efforts. 

One  spring  day  he  accompanied  some  friends  on  a  horse- 
back hunting  excursion.  The  wild  pony  which  he  had  ven- 
tured to  ride  became  frightened  at  the  discharge  of  a  gun 
and  threw  him,  inflicting  quite  severe  injury.  Lame  and 
sore  from  the  fall,  he  stepped  upon  the  platform  at  the  hour 
for  his  evening  meeting,  and  addressed  the  people  as  usual. 

The  magnitude  of  influence  for  good  in  any. moral  effort 
may  be  estimated  from  the  degree  of  hostility  it  arouses 
among  the  vicious  and  immoral  classes.  If  the  Christian 
soldier  batters  down  the  enemy's  walls  of  defence  ;  if  he 
tears  from  before  the  hosts  of  sin  their  bulwarks  of  deceit ; 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  73 

if  he  drives  them  from  their  positions,  he  will  hear  their 
curses  growing  louder  and  deeper  as  their  defeat  grows 
more  certain. 

Measured  by  these  standards,  Mr.  Finch  achieved  marvels 
of  success  for  truth  and  humanity.  In  a  few  cases  saloon- 
keepers were  converted  in  his  meetings.  Excepting  these 
men,  the  entire  liquor  interest  throughout  the  State  cursed, 
maligned,  persecuted,  and  hated  John  B.  Finch.  No 
malediction  was  too  awful,  no  denunciation  too  bitter  for 
their  malignant  tongues  to  utter  against  him.  Threats  of 
personal  violence  and  injury  were  freely  indulged  by  the 
degraded  devotees  of  rum,  and  their  interested  instigators. 
The  vilest  calumnies  were  hatched  in  the  saloons  and  ped- 
dled on  the  streets  by  conscienceless  slanderers. 

As  the  venom  of  the  murder-mills  increased,  one  of  the 
beautiful  compensations  of  God's  providence  gave  him 
requital  for  his  devotion  to  his  work  and  for  the  bitter 
hostility  he  had  aroused.  A  cordon  of  loyal,  loving  friends 
drew  closer  and  closer  round  him,  ready  to  shield  him  from 
harm.  Faster  than  foes  multiplied,  the  warm,  true-hearted 
legions  of  friends  increased.  For  every  whisper  of  detrac- 
tion from  his  enemies,  they  breathed  upon  him  a  benedic- 
tion. Into  every  wound  the  poisoned  dagger  points  of 
malice  made,  they  poured  the  balm  of  an  unwavering  trust 
and  confidence.  If  violence  or  crime  raised  its  guilty  hand 
to  strike  the  leader,  a  friendly  host  stood  ready  to  avert  the 
blow.  Seeing  these  ever-vigilant  defenders  gather,  the 


74  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

would-be  assaulters  and  assassins  restrained  their  murderous 
impulses,  and  confined  their  attacks  to  defamation  and 
detraction  of  Mr.  Finch,  and  to  such  abuse  and  injury  of 
his  friends  and  co-workers  as  they  dared,  openly  or  secretly, 
to  inflict. 

In  one  village  the  barns  and  an  elevator  belonging  to  a 
gentleman  who  had  been  prominent  in  the  local  Red  Ribbon 
work,  were  fired  by  a  drunken  incendiary  instigated  by  the 
saloons. 

At  the  meeting  the  next  evening  Mr.  Finch  said  : 

"  Fellow-citizens,  we  must  go  on  with  this  work.  We 
cannot  sacrifice  principle  for  a  few  barns  and  elevators." 

In  other  towns  free  drinks  were  furnished  to  all  the 
drunken  loafers  who  could  be  influenced  to  go  to  the  meet- 
ings and  create  disturbances. 

In  one  of  the  larger  towns,  where  the  rum -shop  had  ruled 
almost  unrestrained,  a  hooting  mob  gathered  about  the 
church,  hurling  stones  through  the  windows,  battering  the 
doors  with  heavy  timbers,  and  greatly  terrifying  the  people. 
The  attack  was  made  by  the  German  saloon-keepers  and 
their  German  allies,  whose  ideas  of  "  personal  liberty"  em- 
braced the  notion  that  they  had  the  right  to  sell  and  drink 
all  the  beer  they  pleased,  and  mob  or  murder  any  man  who 
sought  to  limit  such  privileges. 

A  large  number  of  Irishmen,  many  of  them  poor  laborers, 
had  been  converted  in  these  meetings,  and  were  present  on 
the  night  of  the  attack.  They  arose  in  a  body  at  the  first 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.    FINCH.  75 

warning.  One  brawny  Hercules  called  out,  as  he  made  for 
the  door  : 

"  Go  roight  an,  Mester  Fench,  the  b'ys  will  tind  to  the 
Dutch." 

Another  zealous  convert  shouted  : 

"  If  yez  will  say  the  wahrd,  we'll  clane  out  ivery  rum- 
hole  in  the  town." 

With  such  a  sturdy  hand  of  defenders  the  mob  had  not 
courage  to  contend,  and  scattered  in  every  direction  no 
doubt  tilled  with  the  idea  of  Goldsmith,  that 

"  He  who  fights  and  runs  away 
May  live  to  fight  another  day." 

After  this  no  further  disturbance  was  attempted,  though 
the  beer  barons  scowled  their  sullen  hatred  and  muttered 
curses,  "  not  loud,  but  deep." 

In  sunshine  and  in  storm  ;  in  the  face  of  foes  most  piti- 
less ;  against  opposition  unscrupulous  and  determined  ;  in 
fields  of  labor  that  first  seemed  utterly  hopeless  ;  every- 
where and  at  all  times  that  duty  called,  Mr.  Finch  calmly 
and  imperturbably  responded  to  the  call,  ready  to  do  all 
that  human  heart  and  hand  and  brain  could  do,  leaving  the 
results  with  God. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Hamilton,  of  Boston,  says  : 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  distinguished  by  his  cause,  but  his  '  honor  was 
not  won  until  some  honorable  deed  was  done."  And  his  deeds  now 
honor  him,  but  he  will  '  shine  in  more  substantial  honors,'  as  time  re- 
veals the  measure  of  influence  he  continues  to  exert.  He  was  a  young 


76  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

man,  but  he  had  little  of  that '  fever  of  reason '  which  we  call  youth. 
He  spoke  the  language  of  men.  It  was  his  manly  strength  and  manly 
art  which  led  men  to  love  him  and  men  to  hate  him. 

' '  These  three  things  distinguished  him,  as  I  understood  him.  He 
was  devoted  to  his  work,  skilful  and  honorable  about  it,  and  happy  in 
it.  His  devotion  to  the  temperance  reform  was  evident  to  my  mind 
from  the  changes  it  wrought  in  his  mind.  He  submitted  to  follow  his 
conscience,  no  matter  where  it  led  him.  His  skill  displayed  itself  in  his 
statesmanship.  Honorable  methods  were  natural  to  him  ;  temptations 
which  threatened  him  only  exalted  him.  The  delight  which  he  took  in 
his  work  possibly  showed  that  he  was  a  young  man.  '  Every  street,'  says 
Bulwer-Lytton,  '  has  two  sides  :  the  shady  side  and  the  sunny.  When 
two  men  shake  hands  and  part,  mark  which  of  the  two  takes  the  sunny 
side  ;  he  will  be  the  younger  man  of  the  two.'  Mr.  Finch  walked  in  the 
sun." 

While  the  press  was  nowhere  very  heartily  sympathetic 
with  his  work,  the  daily  newspaper  reports  of  its  progress 
show  some  of  its  interesting  features. 

The  Falls  City  Globe  and  Journal  comments  on  the  con- 
version of  a  saloon-keeper  : 

"  Wes.  llalston,  proprietor  of  the  Senate  Saloon  up  to  the  hour  of  its 
death,  donned  the  Red  Ribbon  on  Thursday,  and  signed  the  pledge  of 
the  Red  Ribbon  Club,  which  reads  as  follows  :  '  I,  the  undersigned,  for 
my  own  good,  and  for  the  good  of  others,  promise,  God  helping  me, 
never  to  use,  sell,  or  cause  to  be  furnished  to  others  as  a  beverage,  any 
spirituous  or  malt  liquors,  wine,  or  cider.' 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  coming  of  Mr.  Finch  has  done 
our  city  great  good,  and  the  movement  that  his  work  among  us  has 
started  will  not  likely  cease  until  much  or  quite  all  of  the  evil  that  in- 
temperance has  already  caused  and  is  yet  causing  in  our  beautiful  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINC&  W 

growing  city  is  entirely  removed,  and  the  sources  of  it  uprooted  and 
destroyed.  Larger  audiences  than  ever  before  gathered  upon  any  occa- 
sion in  this  city  crowded  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  the  first 
two  or  three  evenings  of  the  course,  until  it  became  necessary  to  ex- 
change the  church  for  the  court  room  in  order  to  accommodate  the  vast 
throngs  that  nightly  gathered  to  hear  the  famous  eloquent  lecturer. 
There  could  not  have  been  less  than  twelve  hundred  present  at  the  lec- 
ture on  last  Sabbath  evening  ;  they  filled  the  court-room  to  overflowing, 
crowding  its  aisles  and  packing  its  seats  until  every  mite  of  space  that 
could  possibly  be  utilized,  either  for  sitting  or  standing,  was  taken  up." 

One  of  the  chief  aims  which  Mr.  Finch  sought  in  all  his 
work  was  permanence.  He  determined  to  guard  against 
reaction  by  every  wise  precaution  that  could  be  adopted. 
He  always  urged  the  importance  of  the  continuous  moral 
and  .intellectual  development  of  reformed  men,  and  the 
necessity  of  providing  rooms  where  they  could  meet  to- 
gether every  day,  or  at  any  interval  of  leisure,  and  find  pure 
and  ennobling  associations  and  surroundings.  The  York 
Republican  mentions  some  of  this  practical  work  : 

"  The  great  event  of  the  week  and  of  the  season  has  been  Mr.  Finch's 
lectures.  The  largest  hopes  and  expectations  of  the  temperance  people 
have  been  more  than  realized.  Audiences  of  four  to  seven  hundred 
crowded  the  City  Hall  every  night,  and  were  held  in  the  most  \rrapt 
attention  to  the  very  end.  In  fact,  the  interest  increased  from  the  very 
first  meeting.  People  from  all  parts  of  the  country  were  in  attendance, 
and  the  hall,  50x60,  was  packed  till  there  wasn't  standing  room,  and 
many  had  to  go  away. 

"  The  results  are  most  satisfactory.  Eight  hundred  and  sixty-six  per- 
sons took  the  pledge  and  donned  the  Red  Ribbon,  and  have  gone  to  work 


78  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

in  dead  earnest  to  get  their  friends  to  go  with  them.  Last  night  three- 
dollar  shares,  to  the  extent  of  nearly  four  hundred  dollars,  were  sold  for 
a  library  and  reading-room,  to  be  established  in  York,  free  to  all,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Ked  Ribbon  men.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the 
amount  of  good  done." 

The  Nebraska  Herald  reports  the  library  enterprise  in- 
augurated in  Plattsmouth  : 

"  Mr.  Finch,  the  great  temperance  Red  Ribbon  man,  closed  his  labors 
here  on  Sunday  evening  last  by  talking  to  an  audience  which  packed 
Fitzgerald  Hall  full.  No  more  can  it  be  said  that  only  nigger  minstrels 
or  a  school  exhibition  can  induce  Plattsmouth  to  turn  out  in  force.  A 
pale,  overworked  temperance  lecturer  brought  them  all  out,  old  and 
young.  That's  saying  a  good  deal  for  Mr.  Finch. 

"  Further,  over  six  hundred  and  eighty-six  persons  have  taken  the  Red 
Ribbon  and  signed  a  pledge  to  abstain  from  all  alcoholic  drink  as  a  bev- 
erage, and  $384.53  in  cash  was  raised,  which,  after  paying  the  expenses, 
leaves  two  hundred  dollars  for  the  purchase  of  a  library  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  reading-room. " 

The  Red  Ribbon  library  and  reading-room  found  a  warm 
advocate  in  Mr.  Finch.  In  Beatrice,  Crete,  Button,  Hast- 
ings, and  other  cities  money  was  raised  in  his  meetings  to 
put  in  operation  these  beneficent  institutions  in  their  com- 
munities. The  Saline  County  Union  said  of  the  work  in 
Crete  : 

"  Mr.  Finch  closed  up  his  work  here  on  Tuesday  night.  He  spoke 
four  nights  in  the  church  and  seven  at  the  Opera  House  besides  Sunday 
afternoon,  making  twelve  able  and  exhaustive  lectures  on  the  various 
points  that  came  up. 

"  The  work  closed  with  the  organization  of  the  Crete  Red  Ribbon 
Club,  with  a  library  and  reading-room  in  connection. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  Mr.  Finch's  lectures  have  been  practical  and  convincin 
At  length  a  prophet  has  arisen  in  the  temperance  agitation  who  has 
found  the  true  way  to  handle  it.  His  arguments  are  fads,  not  personal- 
ities ;  his  appeals  are  to  the  fitness  of  things,  not  to  men's  passions.  The 
end  is  that,  while  coals  of  fire  are  heaped  upon  some  heads,  it  is  not  the 
speaker,  but  the  facts  that  do  it.  And  facts  are  stubborn  things  to 
combat." 

During  the  first  three  years  of  Mr.  Finch's  temperance 
work  Mrs.  Finch  constantly  accompanied -him,  assisting  in 
all  his  meetings  by  recitations  and  select  readings,  which 
were  always  highly  appreciated  and  commended.  She 
often  relieved  her  husband  by  conducting  the  morning 
prayer-meetings  which  he  always  inaugurated  in  connection 
with  his  Red  Ribbon  work.  The  effort  was  made  to  bring 
the  pledged  men  to  understand  that  there  is  an  Arm 
stronger  than  human  on  which  they  might  lean  for  help  in 
every  hour  of  weakness,  a  Saviour  who  helps  when  earthly 
aid  is  refused. 

Mr.  Finch's  great  success  in  pledging  men  and  in  keep- 
ing them  loyal  to  their  obligations  may  be  attributed  to  his 
teaching  them  the  measure  of  their  own  weakness,  and  the 

x 

imperative  need  of  Divine  guidance  and  strength  to  sustain 
them  in  their  hours  of  temptation. 

Dr.  S.  H.  King,  of  Lincoln,  Neb.,  one  of  the  most 
prominent  co-workers  with  Mr.  Finch,  thus  summarizes  his 
Red  Ribbon  work  : 

"  The  earlier  labors  of  John  B.  Finch  in  the  Red  Ribbon  movement  in 
Nebraska  and  adjoining  States  were  unprecedented  in  the  accomplish- 


80  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

ment  of  permanent  good  for  temperance,  and  ultimately  Prohibition. 
His  work  in  this  line,  inaugurated  and  carried  forward  in  this  State, 
though  it  has  been  largely  superseded  by  the  organization  of  Prohibition 
clubs,  was  the  school  in  which  not  only  the  individuals  composing  the 
Prohibition  Party  of  to-day,  but  also  that  larger  element  which  favors 
the  principle,  but  still  clings  to  the  old  parties,  were  educated  up  to  an 
honest  conviction  of  Prohibition  as  a  policy  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
State. 

"  While  Mr.  Finch  never  omitted  any  of  the  essentials  comprising  the 
Christian's  duty  and  the  obligations  due  from  man  to  God,  his  efforts 
partook  more  of  that  practical  form — his  duty  to  his  fellow-man,  his  duty 
to  State  and  nation,  performed  with  a  view  of  bringing  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  number. 

"  His  success  in  leading  men  to  reform  lay  in  his  graphic  and  forcible 
manner  of  presenting  the  various  evils  growing  out  of  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cants, the  effects  upon  the  individual  physically,  socially,  and  morally  ; 
and  as  the  individual  is  the  unit  of  society,  its  evil  effects  must  be  shared 
by  the  whole  people,  the  innocent  suffering  with  the  guilty.  So  that 
when  men  were  led  to  see  that  to  abandon  the  use  of  intoxicants  was  the 
best  course  for  them  as  individuals,  they  were  at  the  same  time  con- 
vinced that  such  a  policy  was  best  for  the  State. 

"  Coming  to  Nebraska  at  a  time  when  her  people  were  lethargic  on  the 
subject  of  temperance,  when  every  town  and  hamlet  was  cursed  with 
dram-shops  under  the  license  system,  the  abundant  fruits  of  his  labor  in 
the  Red  Ribbon  work  were  the  subject  of  remark  and  astonishment  to 
even  the  most  zealous  and  hopeful. 

"  His  first  engagement  at  Lincoln,  the  capital  city,  was  for  seven  nights. 

"  Many  wondered  what  any  speaker  could  find  to  say  on  this  one 
theme  for  seven  consecutive  lectures  that  would  interest  the  same  people. 
The  seven  lectures  were  delivered,  the  interest  increasing  until  no  audi- 
ence-room in  the  city  was  large  enough  to  seat  those  who  came  to  hear. 
At  the  close  of  the  first  week,  arrangements  were  made  to  continue  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  81 

meetings  for  another  week,  and  before  that  ended  the  interest  had  so 
increased,  and  signers  to  the  pledge  were  so  numerous,  that  the  meetings 
were  continued  during  the  third  week.  The  twenty-first  or  last  lecture 
of  that  series  was  delivered  on  Sunday  evening  at  the  Opera  House, 
which  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  hundreds  being  turned  away 
unable  to  gain  admittance.  This  illustrates  the  inexhaustible  fund  of 
information,  the  unlimited  scope  and  variety  of  his  arguments,  and  the 
boundless  resources  at  his  command  as  a  public  speaker. 

"  He  delivered  upon  the  platform  to  Lincoln  audiences  in  all  ninety- 
one  addresses.  The  last  of  these  was  on  the  evening  of  November  1st, 
1886,  the  night  preceding  the  State  election.  The  Republicans  held 
their  final  rally  at  the  Opera  House  the  same  hour.  Their  meeting  was 
preceded  by  a  street  parade  —torch-light  procession  headed  by  a  band 
of  music  to  enthuse  the  masses  and  draw  the  crowd.  They  also  engaged 
the  heaviest  orator  of  their  party  in  the  State,  at  a  cost  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars. 

"  After  all  this  effort  their  audience  numbered  less  than  five  hundred, 
while  the  attendance  at  Finch's  lecture  was  two  thousand.  Such  was 
the  high  estimation  in  which  the  speaker  was  held  by  the  citizens  in  the 
town  where  he  resided  eight  years. 

"  The  political  results  of  this  movement  are  beyond  computation  ; 
some,  however,  are  visible.  The  Nebraska  Legislature  of  1881  came 
within  one  vote  of  submitting  to  the  people  a  prohibitory  constitutional 
amendment,  which  measure  cost  the  liquor  ring  much  alarm  and  many 
thousand  dollars  to  accomplish  its  defeat.  The  same  Legislature  enacted 
the  present  high-license  law,  which  was  then  regarded  as  a  long  stride 
and  a  great  victory  for  temperance. 

"  Mr.  Finch's  labors  during  his  residence  in  Nebraska  may  be  said  to 
be  national,  for  they  were  confined  to  no  one  State  for  any  long  period. 
Kansas  and  Iowa  were,  however,  large  recipients  of  his  labor. 

"  How  much  the  former  is  indebted  to  him  for  constitutional  Prohibi- 
tion and  the  latter  for  her  prohibitory  statute  can  never  be  estimated." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    GOOD   TEMPLAR   MISSIONARY   TENT. 

"  I  am  proud  of  the  Order  of  which  I  am  a  member.  Looking  at  its 
battle-scarred  flag,  and  back  over  the  long  and  glorious  route  it  has  trav- 
elled, I  see  hope  for  the  future.  I  see  the  time  coining  when  our  organ- 
izations, our  forces,  shall  stand  together  on  the  heights  of  victory  and 
shout  over  the  redemption  of  the  land  from  the  dread  curse  of  intem- 
perance. And  when  that  day  shall  come,  and  drunkenness  and  misery 
and  outlawry  shall  cease  ;  when  happy  homes  and  happy  wives  and 
children  shall  no  longer  fear  the  encroachments  of  this  terrible  curse — 
then,  Brother  and  Sister  Good  Templar,  take  our  flag,  the  flag  of  Good 
Templary,  with  its  motto  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  and  furl  it,  and  lay 
it  away,  honored  and  revered,  to  be  kept  with  holy  things." — From  a 
speech  by  JOHN  B.  FINCH  AT  DECATUR,  ILL.,  March  31s<,  1882. 

In  God's  own  might 
We  gird  us  for  the  coming  fight, 
And,  strong  in  Him  whose  cause  is  ours 
In  conflict  with  unholy  powers, 
We  grasp  the  weapons  He  has  given — 
The  Light,  and  Truth,  and  Love  of  Heaven. 

Whiliter. 

rj^IIE  Grand  Lodgo  of  Wisconsin  has  long  been  known 
-*-    and  recognized  as  among  the  most  active  and  aggres- 
sive of  Good  Templar  jurisdictions.     Its  leaders  have  been 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  85 

talented,  earnest,  and  conscientious  men,  ever  watchful 
and  prompt  in  attention  to  its  interests. 

The  Grand  Lodge  executive  determined  to  carry  on  a 
vigorous  summer  campaign  in  1878.  They  purchased  a 
large  tent  of  sufficient  capacity  to  seat  more  than  one  thou- 
sand people.  A  strong  man  was  employed  to  take  charge 
of  the  canvas  and  see  that  it  was  properly  raised  and  the 
seats  arranged  under  it,  and  after  the  close  of  each  series  of 
meetings,  that  it  was  packed  and  shipped  to  the  next  point 
where  it  was  to  be  used. 

The  services  of  Mr.  Finch  were  secured  for  the  months 
of  June  and  July.  Two  days  were  devoted  to  the  work  in 
each  locality  visited.  In  special  cases  one  or  two  extra 
days  were  given. 

Three  services  were  held  in  the  tent  each  day,  Mr.  Finch 
being  always  present  at  each,  and  delivering  addresses  in 
the  afternoon  and  evening. 

Wisconsin  has  a  large  German  population,  some  counties 
being  almost  entirely  occupied  by  that  race.  Very  little 
had  ever  been  accomplished  in  the  direction  of  securing 
their  attention  to  the  subject  of  temperance.  The  beer 
saloon  flourished  everywhere  among  them,  practically  unre- 
strained and  unassailed. 

In  the  cities  along  the  rivers,  where  spring  freshets  bring 
the  "  log  drives"  from  the  timber  regions,  a  motley  crowd 
gathers  to  work  in  the  mills.  Every  nationality  is  repre- 
sented by  its  worst  specimens  of  character.  Perhaps  in  no 


86  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

part  of  the  world  is  the  brutalizing  effects  of  beer  drinking 
more  marked  than  in  the  lumber  towns  and  mill  cities  of 
the  pineries. 

When  spring  opens  and  the  lumber  camps  are  abandoned 
till  the  next  winter,  the  vicious  current  of  life  in  the  saw- 
mill towns  is  re-enforced  by  accessions  from  the  "  woods," 
of  men  whose  rude  life,  far  away  from  the  restraints  of 
social  order,  has  fitted  them  for  any  disorderly  deeds  their 
drink-maddened  minds  may  plan.  Most  of  these  men  find 
employment  in  the  mills,  which  run  to  their  fullest  capacity 
through  the  summer  months.  During  work  hours  they  are 
at  their  places,  but 

"  When  night 

Darkens  the  streets,  then  wander  forth  the  sons 
Of  Belial,  flown  with  insolence  and  wine." 

The  large  numbers  of  these  half-savage  men,  banded 
together  by  the  mystic  ties  of  long  association,  educated  in 
the  dram-shop  schools  of  crime,  with  brains  steeped  in 
liquor,  and  every  moral  sense  stupefied  by  their  continuous 
potations,  make  them  a  dangerous  class  in  any  city.  The 
timidity  or  complicity  of  the  official  guardians  of  the  law 
often  enables  these  depredators  to  escape  punishment  for 
acts  the  most  outrageous,  indecent  and  criminal.  It  is  not 
uncommonly  remarked  that  the  mill-hands  "  run  the  town." 

Later  years  have  shown  marked  progress  in  moral  devel- 
opment and  regard  for  law  in  many  of  the  cities  where  Mr. 
Finch  found  the  lawless  elements  in  undisturbed  possession 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  87 

and  in  the  zenith  of  their  power.  German  saloon-keepers 
and  German  brewers  furnished  the  necessary  stimulus  to 
inflame  bad  passions  and  incite  their  victims  to  open  acts  of 
violence  and  often  to  bloodshed. 

The  advent  of  Mr.  Finch  into  cities  where  the  dram-shop 
sovereignty  seemed  secure  aroused  the  fierce  wrath  of  these 
envoys  of  Moloch.  They  scowled  their  hate  as  he  passed 
them  on  the  street,  and  threatened  personal  violence. 

The  Templar  tent,  with  its  flag  floating  before  their  eyes, 
was  a  daily  rebuke  that  stung  them  almost  to  madness,  and 
the  brave,  strong  words  of  Mr.  Finch,  with  his  keen  dis- 
section of  the  liquor  crime,  his  unanswerable  arguments  for 
abstinence,  and  his  statesman-like  plea  for  prohibition  filled 
them  with  ungovernable  rage. 

The  liquor  men  did  not  always  confine  themselves  to 
invective.  Juvenal  says,  "  There  is  great  unanimity 
among  the  dissolute."  (Magna  inter  molles  concordia.) 
It  seemed  to  be  the  determination  of  the  saloon  sym- 
pathizers in  every  town  to  inflict  serious  injury  on  the 
people  gathered  in  the  tent.  In  spite  of  the  watchfulness 
of  the  guards,  which  it  was  found  necessary  to  station  on 
the  outside,  the  stay-ropes  of  the  great  tent  were  repeatedly 
cut,  and  almost  superhuman  exertions  were  sometimes  re- 
quired to  prevent  the  huge  canvas  from  falling  and  crush- 
ing or  mangling  scores  of  people  under  the  heavy  centre 
pole.  In  the  providence  of  God  no  such  calamity  was  per- 
mitted, but  the  pitiless  rage  of  the  rum-sellers  arid  their 


88  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

besotted  minions,  who  could  coolly  plot  a  wholesale  slaughter 
was  manifest  to  all  the  people,  and  sank  the  liquor  business 
lower  in  their  estimation. 

Drunken  men  often  disturbed  the  evening  meetings, 
their  persistency  and  sometimes  their  unguarded  expres- 
sions betraying  the  instigators  who  had  plied  them  with 
liquor  and  hired  them  to  perform  the  shameless  service. 

Mrs.  Finch  usually  gave  one  or  two  temperance  recita- 
tions at  each  meeting.  One  night  she  recited  the  old  poem, 
"I've  Drank  My  Last  Glass,"  and  was  interrupted  by  an 
intoxicated  man,  who  muttered  a  vulgar  oath  and  yelled, 
"  I  no  drink  my  last  glass."  Quick  as  a  flash  the  husband 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  stood  beside  his  wife.  His  eyes 
blazed  with  indignation,  and  it  was  fortunate  for  the 
drunken  wretch  that  he  was  beyond  Mr.  Finch's  reach  in 
the  dense  crowd.  Although  there  were  many  emissaries 
from  the  saloons  in  the  tent,  and  all  of  them  were  bent  on 
mischief,  Mr.  Finch  demanded  : 

"  Some  of  you  men  who  can  reach  him  roll  that  beer- 
cask  outside  before  we  proceed.  I  will  do  it,  if  necessary." 

A  muscular  friend  of  good  order  obeyed  the  command, 
and  no  further  disturbance  occurred  that  evening,  though 
many  expected  the  stinging  rebuke  from  Mr.  Finch  would 
be  the  signal  for  a  general  onslaught  by  the  liquor  forces. 

The  result  of  the  two  months'  work  was  a  large  gain  in 
Good  Templar  membership  and  in  the  public  esteem  in 
which  the  Order  was  held.  The  memory  of  the  tent  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.    FINCH.  89 

its  great  gatherings  of  absorbed  listeners,  and  the  many 
conversions  to  virtue  and  sobriety  made  in  the  meetings, 
lingers  yet  among  the  people. 

The  Good  Templar  tent  campaign  of  1878  was  so  suc- 
cessful and  produced  such  good  and  lasting  results  that  the 
Grand  Lodge  executive  determined  to  conduct  a  similar 
series  of  meetings  in  the  summer  of  1879.  Mr.  Finch  and 
Colonel  John  Sobieski  were  employed,  and  in  company 
they  visited  a  large  number  of  toWns.  The  bitterness 
manifested  by  the  liquor  people  the  preceding  year  seemed 
to  have  grown  intenser.  Threats  of  violence  were  louder 
and  more  open,  but  none  of  them  were  executed. 

In  one  village  in  the  lumber  district  the  meetings  opened 
with  a  speech  from  Colonel  Sobieski  in  the  afternoon  and 
from  Mr.  Finch  at  night.  The  Brewers'  Congress  had 
held  its  session  in  Philadelphia  a  few  weeks  before,  and 
Mr.  Finch  spoke  of  it  as  the  beer  brewers'  big  drunk,  add- 
ing : 

"  I  say  drunk  because  they  never  adjourn  without  a 
beer-and-brandy,  wine-and-punch  banquet,  at  which  most 
of  their  members  get  '  boozy. '  : 

"  You  voz  von liar  !"  called  a  voice  from  the 

audience  ;  "  if  you  don'd  shut  ub,  I  lick out  of  you." 

Colonel  Sobieski  was  presiding.    He  rose  and  said  firmly  : 

"  You  must  not  interrupt  the  speaker." 

"  He  mustn't  lie,  den,"  answered  the  disturber. 

"  Silence,  sir  !"  thundered  Sobieski,  who  had  now  located 


90  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  man,  "  and  take  that  cigar  out  of  your  mouth  or  leave 
the  tent." 

The  man,  who  proved  to  be  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the 
breweries  in  the  village,  muttered  a  low  curse  and  became 
silent.  It  was  ascertained  afterward  that  he  was  not  a 
naturalized  citizen.  Although  not  then  aware  of  this  fact, 
Mr.  Finch,  in  resuming  his  speech,  commented  severely 
upon  the  foreigner  who  comes  to  this  country  to  escape 
from  the  despotisms  of  Europe,  and  forthwith  seeks  to  set 
up  a  despotism  of  drunkard-makers,  before  he  has  become  a 
citizen  of  the  commonwealth  that  offers  him  a  refuge  and 
protection. 

"How  contemptible,"  said  Mr.  Finch,  "is  the  poor 
wretch  whose  lips  have  always  been  sealed  by  the  iron  hand 
of  an  emperor  when  he  attempts  to  silence  free  speech  in 
America  !  Coming  from  a  country  where  he  had  nothing 
and  could  get  nothing,  he  finds  here  not  only  an  asylum 
pom  oppression,  but  a  generous  nation  offering  him  her 
choicest  gifts,  if  he  will  reach  forth  the  hand  of  honest 
industry  to  grasp  them.  How  mean  the  man  who  re- 
ceives so  much  and  returns  so  little,  who  seeks  to  set 
Gambrinus  on  a  beer-keg  throne,  and  compel  American 
freemen  to  bow  to  his  drunken  majesty's  imperious  man- 
dates !" 

The  next  day  a  drunken  priest  had  an  attack  of  delirium 
tremens,  and  ran  through  the  streets  yelling  like  a  demon. 
In  commenting  on  the  events  of  the  day,  as  was  always  Mr. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  91 

Finch's  custom,  he  alluded  to  the  horrible  spectacle  of  a 
drink-crazed  priest,  and  said  : 

"  He  professed  to  be  a  minister  of  religion,  but  as  he  ran 
along  the  street  he  looked  more  like  a  barrel  of  swill." 

After  this  the  liquor  men  and  some  of  the  priest's  fol- 
lowers openly  proclaimed  their  intention  to  mob  the  tent 
and  drive  the  speakers  away.  Hearing  this,  Mr.  Finch 
arranged  that  Sobieski,  himself,  and  the  tent  manager 
should  walk  the  entire  length  of  the  town  every  morning, 
going  up  on  one  side  of  the  street  and  returning  on  the 
other,  thus  passing  before  the  doors  of  each  one  of  the 
seventy  saloons.  They  were  never  molested  in  these  morn- 
ing strolls,  although  a  frowning,  low-browed,  bleary-faced 
crowd  of  men  was  often  found  on  some  street  corner  near  a 
saloon. 

Twenty-four  hours  after  the  tent  was  packed  and  shipped 
and  the  speakers  had  departed  the  brave  (?)  defenders  of 
the  dram-shops  were  heard  and  seen  blustering  about  town 
with  guns  on  their  shoulders  and  big  revolvers  in  their  belts, 
hunting  for  "  Finch  and  Sobieski  !" 

In  Oconto  two  of  the  saloon-keepers  were  members  of 
the  City  Council,  and  very  influential  in  that  body.  The 
presence  of  the  tent  in  town,  and  Mr.  Finch's  lectures  made 
them  furious.  While  they  made  no  violent  demonstration, 
as  they  repeatedly  threatened,  they  levelled  at  him  a  vin- 
dictive resolution  which  one  of  the  saloon-keepers  intro- 
duced and  the  City  Council  obsequiously  passed.  Full  of 


92  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

bitterness  and  bad  grammar,  it  fell  harmless  upon  its  in- 
tended victim,  and  made  its  originator  a  butt  of  ridicule 
even  among  his  patrons  and  boon  companions. 

The  Oconto  Reporter  of  August  16th  published  the  reso- 
lution under  the  following  derisive  head-lines  : 

"  'TIS  DONE  ! 

THE  RESOLUTIONER  HAS  RESOLUTIONIZED  ! 

THE  NORTH  WARD  REPRESENTATIVE  IMMORTALIZED  ! 

GROWLER  GROWLS  A  GROWL  THUSLY  ! 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Common  Council,  irrespective  of 
nationality,  creed  or  station  in  life,  hail  temperance  in  all 
its  ramifications  as  a  harbinger  of  peace,  prosperity,  and 
happiness,  to  the  human  race,  (nevertheless)  said  Council 
shrinks  not  from  denouncing  as  a  fraud,  a  cheat  and  hypo- 
crite, that  arab  itinerant  Tramp  and  carpet  bagger  !  whom 
invade  our  peaceable  city  on  a  day  of  last  week,  dubbed 
with  the  garb  of  sanctity  and  temperance  that  he  might  the 
better  disseminate  the  seeds  of  discord  and  sectarian  ani- 
mosity among  law-abiding  citizens  ;  whom  know  they  are 
right  arid  bound  to  go  ahead,  the  language  of  the  Tramp 
to  the  contrary, 

Notwithstanding  ! 
(Signed)  JAS  DONLEVY." 

This  ridiculous  display  of  spite  aroused  the  indignation 
of  the  citizens  and  served  to  emphasize  Mr.  Finch's  decla- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCS.  93 

rations  and  keep  them  in  the  memory  of  the  public.  Under 
the  lash  of  popular  condemnation  the  sycophantic  Council 
beat  a  hasty  retreat,  repealing  the  resolution  at  the  next 
meeting  after  its  adoption. 

At  New  Lisbon  a  saloon-keeper  named  Wright  was  a 
leading  politician  and  a  great  favorite  among  the  drinking 
boys  and  men  of  the  town.  He  was  a  large  man,  broad- 
shouldered  and  brawny-fisted,  with  a  reputation  among 
"the  boys"  of  being  a  dangerous  man  when  aroused,  a 
terrible  fighter  who  always  whipped  or  killed  "  his  man." 

Wright  reported,  though  he  afterward  denied  it,  that 
Colonel  Sobieski  came  into  his  saloon,  after  speaking  on 
temperance  in  the  church  on  Sunday  evening,  and  treated 
the  crowd  assembled  there.  Mr.  Finch  was  at  the  tent 
when  some  of  the  young  men  brought  him  the  report.  He 
emphatically  declared,  "  It  is  a  saloon  lie,  and  you  may  tell 
Wright  that  I  say  so. " 

The  young  men  protested  against  the  bold  declaration, 
because  they  feared  Wright  would  be  desperate,  no  one  in 
the  town  ever  having  dared  to  contradict  him.  Mr.  Finch 
laughingly  answered  : 

"Where  does  this  valiant  drunkard-maker  bury  his 
dead  ?" 

A  violent  rain-storm  compelled  the  people  to  abandon 
the  tent  that  evening  and  to  hold  the  service  in  the  church. 
Mr.  Finch  was  the  speaker,  and  denounced  in  unmeasured 
terms  the  cowardly  slanders  promulgated  by  the  saloon- 


94  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

keeper.  Colonel  Sobieski  had  already,  in  the  afternoon 
meeting,  made  an  unqualified  and  emphatic  denial  of  the 
story.  After  the  evening  audience  was  dismissed  some 
friend  hurried  forward,  and  in  a  whisper  informed  the 
speakers  that  Wright  was  waiting  for  them  outside  the 
church  door.  Mr.  Finch  only  laughed,  and  taking  the  arm 
of  Colonel  Sobieski,  followed  their  host  to  his  home.  As 
the  family  sat  chatting  with  their  guests  a  knock  was  heard 
at  the  door,  and  saloon-keeper  Wright  appeared  on  the 
threshold.  Catching  sight  of  Mr.  Finch  he  angrily  ex- 
claimed : 

"  What  made  you  say  I  kept  a  low,  dirty  saloon,  where 
a  decent  hog  would  die  of  cholera  in  three  minutes  ?" 

Colonel  Sobieski  stepped  promptly  forward,  and  calmly 
replied  : 

"  Mr.  Wright,  Finch  didn't  say  that  ;  1  said  it." 

"  You,  Finch,  what  do  you  mean  by  attacking  me  in 
public  ?"  roared  Wright,  paying  no  attention  to  the  col- 
onel's remark. 

By  this  time  Sobieski's  indignation  at  the  man  who  had 
so  wantonly  and  falsely  accused  him  burst  forth. 

"  You  charged  me  with  having  treated  a  crowd  in  your 
saloon  Sunday  night.  You  knew  it  was  false,  and  I  pub- 
licly declared  it  false.  You  can  quarrel  with  me,  for  I 
have  denounced  you  as  an  infamous  liar  and  the  keeper  of 
a  low,  vile  doggery  not  fit  for  a  hog  to  die  in." 

Wright  met  this  attack  with  unexpected  coolness.     His 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  95 

anger  was  all  against  Mr.  Finch.  He  replied  to  So- 
bieski  : 

"  I  didn't  say  you  treated  in  my  saloon." 

"  What  did  you  say  ?"  asked  the  colonel. 

"  I  said  that  a  certain  temperance  man  in  this  town  came 
into  my  saloon  and  treated  the  crowd." 

"You  said  that?"  exclaimed  Mr.  Finch,  now  for  the 
first  time  taking  part  in  the  conversation. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Wright. 

"  Well,"  said  Finch,  "  a  man  who  will  take  another 
man's  money  and  then  say  that  about  him  behind  his  back 
is  a  disreputable  scoundrel.  Sobieski  didn't  say  that  ;  I 
SAY  rr." 

Wright  clenched  his  fist  and  hissed  between  his  set  teeth, 
"  Mr.  Finch,  you  would  not  say  that  out  in  the  street." 

Mr.  Finch  laughingly  replied,  "  Oh,  yes,  I  would.  It 
is  a  failing  of  the  Finches  that  they  say  the  same  things  out 
on  the  street  that  they  do  in  the  house." 

"  All  right,  I'll  meet  you  to-morrow  on  the  street." 

The  Honorable  Senator  who  had  offered  his  hospitalities 
to  the  temperance  workers  now  sternly  addressed  the  angry 
rum-seller  : 

"  Do  you  dare  to  come  into  my  home  and  insult  my 
guests  ?" 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  Wright,  turning  to  go,  add- 
ing sneeringly  as  he  looked  at  Mr.  Finch,  "  I  suppose  I'll 
see  you. ' ' 


96  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  was  the  indifferent  reply  ;  "  I'll  be  around 
where  you  can  easily  find  me." 

The  next  morning  friends  were  earnest  in  urging  the 
lecturers  to  avoid  being  seen  on  the  street,  but  they  did  not 
heed  the  advice.  They  first  drove  to  the  post-office,  then 
up  and  down  the  various  streets  of  the  town,  then  to  the 
grounds  where  the  tent  was  being  packed  for  shipment, 
and  back  through  the  principal  streets. 

A  crowd  of  roughs  occupied  the  sidewalk  in  front  of 
Wright's  saloon. 

"  Let  us  drive  very  slowly,"  said  Mr.  Finch  as  they 
passed  the  place.  They  drew  rein,  stood  still  a  minute  or 
two  looking  at  the  sullen  assemblage,  and  then  drove  on. 

!No  demonstration  having  been  made  when  the  oppor- 
tunity was  offered,  it  was  suggested  that  the  «aloon  men 
were  waiting  till  the  hour  of  departure  to  attack  Mr.  Finch 
and  Colonel  Sobieski  at  the  depot,  which  was  outside  the 
corporation  limits,  and  therefore  beyond  police  surveillance. 
Whether  or  not  this  was  their  intention,  the  plan  was  never 
executed.  Wright  and  a  few  of  his  cronies  were  upon  the 
platform,  but  said  nothing  and  made  no  attempt  at  assault. 

An  amusing  result  of  this  whole  controversy  transpired 
soon  after.  Wright's  great  reputation  as  a  fighter  and 
dangerous  man,  of  which  he  had  been  so  proud,  was  for- 
ever lost.  The  little  boys  on  the  street  laughed  at  him, 
and  the  stories  of  his  prowess,  which  before  had  been  heard 
by  his  associates  with  a  respect  akin  to  awe,  were  now 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  97 

openly  ridiculed.  He  could  not  endure  constant  derision, 
and  therefore  sold  his  New  Lisbon  saloon  and  moved  to  the 
northern  part  of  the  State,  where  he  opened  a  small  hotel. 

More  than  a  year  afterward  Colonel  Sobieski  was  travel- 
ling in  North  Wisconsin  and  stopped  one  night  at  Wright's 
hotel,  not  knowing  that  the  proprietor  was  the  old  New 
Lisbon  saloon-keeper.  Wright  recognized  him  and  made 
himself  known,  saying  : 

"  I  came  very  near  licking  that  fellow  (Mr.  Finch)  who 
was  with  you  at  New  Lisbon." 

"  You  did  ?"  asked  Sobieski  solemnly. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Wright  ;  "  the  only  reason  I  didn't 
was  because  I  had  a  great  many  friends  among  the  temper- 
ance men  in  that  town." 

In  the  great  beer  city  of  Milwaukee  the  tent  was  pitched 
on  the  lake  shore  near  the  Northwestern  Railway  station. 
The  location  afforded  an  opportunity  for  the  thugs,  that 
always  infest  a  large  city,  to  readily  escape  after  an  attack, 
which  they  threatened. 

A  State  Senator,  elected  from  Milwaukee,  a  prominent 
member  of  one  of  the  city  churches,  had  used  all  his  influ- 
ence at  the  session  of  the  Legislature  the  previous  winter, 
to  defeat  the  submission  to  a  popular  vote  of  a  prohibitory 
constitutional  amendment.  In  a  speech  in  the  Senate  he 
attacked  the  principle  of  prohibition  from  the  standpoint  of 
a  Christian  and  a  temperance  man,  to  which  names  he  per- 
sistently professed  to  be  entitled.  A  few  timid  temperance 


98  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

men  begged  Mr.  Finch  not  to  criticise  the  action  of  the 
Senator  for  fear  of  rousing  his  friends  to  seek  some  terrible 
revenge.  Mr.  Finch  answered  : 

"  I  am  here  to  express  my  honest  convictions.  If  I  do 
less  I  am  not  worthy  of  the  respect  of  any  honest  man.  I 
believe  the  liquor  traffic  is  wrong  and  ought  to  be  pro- 
hibited, and  that  the  man  who,  in  the  name  of  temperance 
and  Christianity,  opposes  the  suppression  of  the  drunkard- 
mills,  is  *  stealing  the  livery  of  Heaven  to  serve  the  devil 
in,"' 

Selecting  an  evening  when  the  tent  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing he  showed,  by  most  convincing  argument,  the  in- 
consistency and  dishonesty  of  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
who  professed  to  be  a  temperance  man  and  a  Christian,  and 
yet  opposed  the  submission  of  an  amendment  allowing  the 
whole  of  the  voting  population  of  a  State  to  settle  the 
liquor  question  by  the  peaceable  arbitrament  of  the  ballot. 

The  keen,  incisive  logic  and  the  scathing  rebuke  to  hypoc- 
risy, stung  the  Senator  and  his  saloon  friends  almost  to 
madness.  The  liquor  men  organized  to  mob  Mr.  Finch 
and  destroy  the  tent,  and  would  have  accomplished  their 
purpose  had  not  the  authorities  detailed  a  strong  police 
guard  to  preserve  order  and  protect  life.  With  his  usual 
fearlessness  Mr.  Finch  declared  that  a  guard  was  not  needed, 
but  the  chief  of  police  insisted  upon  sending  them,  and  by 
that  act  no  doubt  prevented  murder. 

At  Mineral   Point  the  arrangements  of  details  for  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  99 

tent  meetings  were  carefully  made  by  Phil  Allen,  Grand 
Chief  Templar,  under  whose  direction  the  entire  campaign 
was  conducted.  A  written  permit  was  obtained  from  the 
mayor  to  erect  the  tent  on  grounds  belonging  to  the  city. 

From  the  morning  when  the  meetings  opened  great  en- 
thusiasm and  excitement  prevailed.  To  the  saloon-keepers 
it  was  "  wormwood  and  gall"  to  see  the  people  so  stirred 
by  moral  influences  and  so  thoroughly  awakened  to  the 
demands  of  duty. 

A  German  named  Schilling  was  the  proprietor  of  a  hotel 
and  saloon  in  the  city.  One  afternoon  an  idler  at  his  bar 
asked  him  : 

"  Won't  Finch  and  Sobieskt  bust  your  business  if  they 
keep  on  getting  signers  to  the  pledge  ?" 

" them  !"  was  the  answer,  "  they  are  vorking  for 

money,  choost  as  1  sell  viskey  for  money. ' ' 

The  words  were  repeated  on  the  street,  and  came  to  the 
ear  of  Mr.  Finch  just  before  he  stepped  upon  the  platform 
for  his  evening  address.  Little  did  Schilling  expect  that 
his  sneering  words  in  the  afternoon  were  to  be  made  the 
text  of  the  evening  discourse.  Mr.  Finch  commenced  his 
address  by  saying  : 

4 '  Mr.  Schilling,  the  saloon-keeper,  says  we  are  working  for  money, 
just  as  he  is  selling  whiskey  for  money.  If  you  pay  money  to  Mr. 
Sobieski  and  to  me  for  work  that  we  do,  you  have  a  right  to  inquire 
what  will  be  the  effect  upon  society  of  the  work  for  which  you  pay.  If 
men  pay  money  to  Mr.  Schilling  for  the  work  he  does,  they  have  also 
the  right  to  ask  how  his  work  affects  the  people.  If  our  work  produces 


100  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

the  same  effects  as  liis,  we  shall  all  deserve  the  same  measure  of  praise 
or  blame.  If  his  work  produces  good  results  and  ours  evil,  then  he  is 
justly  entitled  to  the  money  he  receives,  and  we  are  defrauding  the  peo- 
ple out  of  every  dollar  they  pay  to  us.  But  if  our  work  brightens  the 
home,  purifies  the  life,  and  lifts  sinning  souls  from  their  shame  into  the 
peace  of  God's  approving  smile,  then  we  honestly  earn  our  compensa- 
tion. And  if,  for  the  money  paid  Mr.  Schilling,  he  scatters  blight  for 
the  home,  fills  human  lives  with  vice  and  crime,  and  sends  souls  to  a 
drunkard's  hell,  then  he  no  more  earns  his  money  than  does  the  high- 
way robber  and  the  midnight  assassin.' ' 

Then  followed  a  word-painting  in  Mr.  Finch's  matchless 
style  ;  a  young  man  was  pictured,  the  bloom  of  health  upon 
his  cheek,  the  fire  of  noble  ambition  in  his  eye,  his  soul 
pure  and  unstained  by  evil.  From  the  fairest  home  in  the 
city  he  takes  the  dearest  daughter  for  a  wife.  He  builds  a 
cottage  and  crowns  her  queen  of  love's  new  empire.  Years 
pass  ;  baby  footsteps  patter  on  the  floor,  and  to  the  honored 
word,  husband,  he  adds  the  sacred  name,  father.  Love 
and  peace  have  their  abode  in  that  happy  household,  and 
no  shadow  of  coming  sorrow  falls  across  its  threshold.  One 
day  a  companion  invites  the  young  husband  and  father  to 
drink  at  Mr.  Schilling's  bar.  He  goes  there  more  and 
more  frequently.  Mr.  Schilling  gets  the  money  that 
formerly  went  to  beautify  the  home,  where  the  neglected 
wife  now  fights  a  brave  battle  with  despair.  Bitter  tears 
wash  the  roses  from  her  cheeks,  gaunt  poverty  looks 
through  the  broken  window-pane,  and  hunger  sits  an  unin- 
vited guest  at  the  table  where  generous  plenty  once  heaped 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  101 

her  stores.  A  bloated-faced,  bleary-eyed  man  clad  in  tat- 
tered garments  reels  through  the  broken  gateway  and  opens 
the  door.  He  heaps  curses  upon  the  woman  who  has  loved 
him  tenderly  and  loyally,  and  tells  her  that  the  cottage  is 
no  longer  theirs,  and  that  a  comfortless  cabin  in  the  out- 
skirts of  the  city  must  henceforth  be  their  home.  The 
cottage  has  been  emptied  of  its  adornments  long  ago,  and 
they  have  filtered  through  the  pawn-shop  into  Mr.  Schill- 
ing's till,  and  now  the  cottage  itself  goes  with  the  rest. 

"  Tell  me,"  demanded  Mr.  Finch,  "  what  has  this  public 
plunderer  given  to  the  man  and  his  wife  and  his  child  for 
the  treasures  of  which  he  has  robbed  them  ?" 

Then  he  portrayed  the  man  signing  the  pledge,  returning 
home  sober,  regaining  his  lost  character,  buying  back  his 
bartered  home,  restoring  its  forfeited  treasures,  bringing 
the  roses  of  joy  to  the  wasted  cheeks  of  the  wife,  and  the 
smiles  of  returning  hope  to  her  eyes  as  she  looks  on  hus- 
band and  child  frolicking  together  in  happy  forgetfulness 
of  the  days  of  desolation. 

"  If  all  men  work  for  money,"  continued  Mr.  Finch, 
"  which  man  honestly  earns  his  wages — he  who  makes  lives 
purer,  or  he  who  makes  men  baser  ?  he  who  makes  the 
home  bright  with  happiness  and  comfort,  or  he  who  darkens 
it  with  wretchedness  and  want  ?  he  who  lifts  man  into  a 
heaven  of  peace,  or  he  who  drags  him  down  into  a  hell  of 
passion  and  sin  ?" 

The  fiery  eloquence,   the  vivid  description,   the   home 


102  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

application,  the  sharp  contrasts,  the  intense  earnestness  of 
the  speaker,  carried  the  audience  by  storm. 

Many  saloon  men  were  present  at  the  meeting,  but  for 
once  they  were  unable  to  stem  the  tide  of  adverse  sentiment 
that  set  in  against  them.  They  left  the  grounds  gnashing 
their  teeth  and  vowing  vengeance,  but  scarcely  knowing 
how  they  were  to  strike  down  their  brave  and  determined 
foes. 

Gathering  in  the  saloons,  they  hatched  a  plan  which  they 
agreed  to  put  into  execution  on  the  morrow,  and  from 
which  they  expected  great  success. 

The  mayor  was  absent  from  the  city  on  the  day  the  tent 
was  set  up  and  for  several  days  thereafter.  Unaware  of 
the  fact  that  he  had  granted  a  permit  to  the  temperance 
people  for  the  use  of  the  city  grounds,  the  liquor  men  had 
determined  to  have  them  ejected  by  legal  process.  Apply- 
ing to  the  city  attorney  for  aid  in  carrying  out  this  plan, 
they  were  much  chagrined  to  learn  that  under  the  laws  of 
Wisconsin  it  might  consume  six  months  to  complete  an 
ejectment  process.  Failing  in  this  direction,  they  made 
preparations  to  put  up  a  bar  on  the  grounds,  and  proclaimed 
their  intention  to  sell  beer  in  the  evening  close  beside  the 
tent,  threatening  Mr.  Finch  with  assassination  if  .he  dared 
to  interfere.  When  informed  of  their  intention  Mr.  Finch 
quietly  remarked  : 

"  There  will  be  no  beer-selling  on  the  grounds." 

During  the  afternoon  several  empty  barrels  and  some 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  103 

planks  were  taken  to  the  grounds  and  set  up  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  entrance  to  the  tent.  ^Colonel  Sobieski  arrived 
before  the  people  had  begun  to  assemble  and  saw  the  prep- 
arations for  beer-selling.  He  had  just  pulled  down  the 
planks  and  'kicked  over  the  barrels  when  a  drayman  drove 
up  with  a  load  of  beer. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  beer  ?"  he  de- 
manded. 

"  I  was  ordered  to  leave  it  here,"  the  driver  responded. 

"  You  must  not  unload  it  here." 

"  I  don't  dare  haul  it  back." 

"  Dump  it  in  the  road,  then." 

"  No,  I  am  a-goin'  to  leave  it  here  as  I  was  paid  to." 

"  If  you  unload  one  keg  here  I  will  have  you  arrested  in 
less  than  half  an  hour." 

"  Well,  I  don't  want  to  git  into  any  trouble  ;  I'll  just 
drive  back." 

As  the  people  gathered  for  the  evening  service  there  was 
a  general  feeling  of  uneasiness  concerning  the  next  move  of 
the  liquor  men,  many  of  whom  were  inside  the  tent  and 
many  more  gathered  on  the  outside.  From  city  and  coun- 
try throngs  of  listeners  came,  filling  every  seat  and  aisle, 
and,  after  the  sides  of  the  tent  were  lifted,  crowding  around 
the  outside  as  far  as  the  eye  could  penetrate  the  darkness. 

Mr.  Finch  gave  the  address.  He  summed  up  the  wrongs 
and  injuries  of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  in  the  very  faces  of 
men  who  had  sworn  they  would  kill  him,  he  hurled  his  de- 


104  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

imnciations  of  their  destructive  and  crime-breeding  busi- 
ness. Coming  to  the  place  that  night  with  assassination 
written  in  their  hearts  and  hate  gleaming  in  their  eyes,  they 
stood  for  two  hours,  speechless  and  motionless,  listening  to 
the  man  they  hated  and  hoped  to  destroy  as  he  unfolded 
the  horrible  story  of  their  crimes.  Bravely,  unhesitatingly 
the  young  orator  plunged  the  sharp  scalpel  of  investigation 
into  the  quivering  consciences  of  his  would-be  murderers, 
and  held  up  to  public  scorn  and  execration  their  evil  pur- 
poses and  lawless  aims. 

This  boldness  utterly  paralyzed  the  men  who  sought  his 
life.  Sullenly  and  silently  they  marched  away  with  the 
quiet  citizens  when  the  meeting  closed. 

But  the  brewer  of  the  city  was  determined,  that  the  im- 
petus to  crime  should  not  be  wanting.  As  soon  as  he 
learned  that  the  drayman  had  not  been  permitted  to  leave 
the  first  load  of  beer  at  the  tent,  he  sent  two  wagon  loads  to 
an  open  lot  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  to  be  dealt 
out  in  free  drinks. 

A  disorderly  mob  already  surrounded  the  beer-kegs  when 
the  evening  exercises  closed.  It  was  augmented  by  the 
accession  of  all  the  desperate  characters  who  had  lurked 
around  the  tent.  Oaths,  threats,  and  foul  language  filled 
the  air  and  "  rendered  night  hideous." 

One  of  the  local  temperance  leaders,  who  learned  that  the 
mayor  had  returned  late  in  the  evening,  hastened  to  his 
home  to  inform  him  of  the  disorder  and  the  impending 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  105 

peril.  Although  not  a  man  recognized  as  specially  friendly 
to  temperance,  the  mayor  arose,  and  dressing  quickly,  went 
out  and  found  two  constables,  and  with  them  hurried  to 
the  scene  of  disturbance  and  at  once  dispersed  the  crowd 
and  averted  the  danger  that  threatened  from  an  infuriated 
mob  maddened  by  unlimited  potations  of  beer. 

The  entire  tent  campaign  was  more  or  less  fraught  with 
peril,  but  Mr.  Finch  gave  no  indication  at  any  time  that  he 
recognized  a  danger.  He  never  swerved  a  hair's-breadth 
from  a  plan  he  had  made  or  a  path  he  had  chosen  because 
of  threats  or  opposition. 

"  Dream  not  helm  and  harness 

The  sign  of  valor  true  ; 
Peace  hath  higher  tests  of  manhood 
Than  battle  ever  knew." 

Colonel  Sobieski,  who  saw  much  of  him  and  knew  him 
intimately,  pays  this  beautiful  tribute  to  his  great  genius  : 

"  Taking  him  all  in  all,  he  was  the  greatest  man  of  our  reform.  He 
was  our  Paul,  for  in  his  masterly  work,  '  The  People  vs.  the  Liquor 
Traffic,"  he  laid  down  the  principles  on  which  we  must  fight  our  battles 
and  win  our  victories.  He  was  our  Luther,  for  he  stood  in  his  old  party 
protesting  against  the  spirit  that  ruled  it,  and  when  protestation  failed, 
he  led  the  new  and  better  party.  He  was  our  Wesley,  for  by  his  elo- 
quence, indomitable  spirit  and  organizing  power,  he  fixed  our  party  on 
such  firm  foundation  that  our  future  success  is  assured.  He  was  our 
Bayard,  fearless  and  reproachless." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   INCEPTION   OF    HIGH    LICENSE. 

Robes  and  furr'd  gowns  hide  all.  Plate  sin  with  gold, 
And  the  strong  lance  of  justice  hurtless  breaks  ; 

Arm  it  in  rags,  a  pigmy' s  straw  doth  pierce  it. 

Shakespeare. 

/~\NE  of  the  results  of  the  great  Lincoln  revival  which 
^~f  Mr.  Finch  so  successfully  conducted  in  1S77  was  the 
setting  in  motion  of  a  plan  of  regulation  for  the  liquor 
traffic  which  never  received  his  approbation,  although  for 
several  years  he  used  his  best  endeavors  to  secure  from  its 
adoption  the  benefits  which  its  friends  claimed  would  cer- 
tainly follow. 

Like  many  other  communities,  Lincoln  contained  a  large 
number  of  people  who  could  not  be  moved  by  any  moral 
upheaval  of  society.  Their  archetypes,  the  Scribes  and 
Pharisees,  wrapped  in  their  pretentious  robes  of  self-satis- 
faction, cavilled  and  questioned,  but  would  not  gather  with 
the  multitude  to  see  the  Master's  matchless  miracles.  But 
even  this  querulous,  unconverted  host  had  felt  from  afar 
some  influence  of  that  fiery  enthusiasm  which  stirred  the 
moral  life  of  the  city,  and  led  many  a  vice-tainted  spirit 
out  into  the  morning  light  of  Divine  forgiveness.  The 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  107 

opposers  of  radical  temperance  reform  saw  that  mor&  rigid 
repression  of  dram-shop  evils  would  be  demanded  by  the 
newly  aroused  public  sentiment.  They  feared  that  a 
demand  would  be  made  for  the  entire  suppression  of  the 
saloon  business.  Had  such  a  demand  been  urged  by  the 
united  influence  of  the  Church  and  the  temperance  forces, 
at  once  and  persistently,  the  city  might  have  been  forever 
freed  from  the  contaminations  of  the  dram-shop.  But 
while  the  liquor  power  had  been  seriously  shaken,  and 
waited  results  with  anxious  expectancy,  the  temperance 
element  was  not  yet  ready  to  take  full  advantage  of  the 
great  moral  victory  already  won.  These  conditions  were 
favorable  to  compromise,  and  the  city  ordinance  requiring 
the  payment  of  a  fee  of  $1000  for  a  saloon  license  was  the 
result. 

While  Mr.  Finch  and  his  most  earnest  co-workers  were 
never  satisfied  with  high  license  nor  willing  to  accept  it  as 
an  ultimate  end,  they  were  led  to  hope  that  the  rigid  en- 
forcement of  such  an  ordinance  would  secure  to  society 
temporary  relief  from  some  of  the  more  grievous  burdens 
of  the  dram-shop  system.  They  therefore  interposed  no 
objection  to  the  scheme,  but  rather  aided  to  secure  a  rigid 
enforcement  of  its  provisions.  That  they  were  greatly 
mistaken  in  their  conception  of  the  near  and  the  remote 
consequences  resulting  from  the  operation  of  this  policy 
many  of  its  original  friends  have  since  confessed,  Mr.  Finch 
often  and  publicly  declaring  that  his  work  for  the  passage 


108  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

of  the  high-license  law  was  the  most  serious  blunder  of  his 
life. 

That  his  ultimate  aim  and  hope  was  always  the  entire 
overthrow  of  the  liquor  power  was  made  plain  in  every 
speech.  The  Good  Templar  Lodge  of  Lincoln  adopted  the 
following  resolutions  at  their  next  session  after  the  close  of 
the  revival  meetings  of  1877  : 

"  Resolved,  That  as  temperance  workers,  we  tender  our  heartiest 
thanks  to  Hon.  John  B.  Finch  for  the  faithful,  able,  and  successful  ser- 
vice he  has  rendered  our  cause  in  this  city. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  gladly  recognize  and  earnestly  commend  Mr. 
Finch's  TTNCOMPROMISING  DEVOTION  TO  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PROHIBITION,  AND 

THAT  WE  HEKEBT  GIVE  OUR  UNITED  TESTIMONY  TO  THE  FIDELITY  AND  ABILITY 
WITH  WHICH  HE  HAS  SET  FORTH  AND  DEFENDED  THE  POLICY  OF  PROHIBITORY 
LEGISLATION." 

"  Resolved,  That  our  sympathies  and  earnest  prayers  shall  follow  him 
and  his  estimable  companion  as  they  go  from  us  to  labor  in  other  locali- 
ties in  our  State,  and  that,  hailing  them  as  true  representatives  of  our 
noble  Order,  and  advocates  together  of  the  grandest  cause  that  ever  en- 
listed human  heart  or  tongue,  we  shall  ever  commend  them  to  Him  who 
is  pledged  to  care  for  His  children  and  who  will  infinitely  recompense 
all  their  faithful  labors." 

'In  the  year  1879,  Mr.  Slocumb,  a  representative  in  the 
Lower  House  of  the  Nebraska  Legislature,  introduced  a 
bill  embodying  the  principal  features  of  the  Lincoln  high- 
license  city  ordinance,  and  extending  its -application  to  the 
entire  State.  In  this  bill  the  license  fee  for  cities  of  over 
ten  thousand  inhabitants  was  fixed  at  a  minimum  of  $1000, 
while  the  minimum  fee  required  for  all  other  cities  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH,  10& 

placed  at  $500.  County  commissioners,  by  resolution,  or 
municipal  councils,  by  ordinance,  were  permitted  to  estab- 
lish higher  rates  for  licenses,  but  must  not  reduce  the  fees 
below  the  sum  named  in  the  State  law.  The  other  provi- 
sions of  the  bill  introduced  by  Mr.  Slocumb  were  similar  to 
regulations  prescribed  in  the  license  statutes  of  most  of  the 
other  States. 

In  the  legislative  session  of  1879,  very  little  attention  was 
given  this  bill.  It  was  looked  upon  by  some  members  as  a 
huge  joke,  by  others  as  the  scheme  of  a  visionary,  and  by  the 
entire  body  as  an  impracticable  measure. 

The  same  year,  the  Kansas  Legislature  submitted  a  pro- 
hibitory constitutional  amendment,  the  first  ever  put  before 
the  people  of  a  whole  State,  for  adoption.  The  absorb- 
ing campaign  for  the  adoption  of  "  the  amendment" 
in  Kansas  aroused  the  temperance  forces  of  the  whole 
nation,  and  they  watched  the  contest  with  intense  inter- 
est. 

Nebraska,  so  close  upon  the  borders  of  this  moral  battle- 
ground, felt  the  thrill  of  enthusiasm  animating  the  earnest 
souls  in  the  sister  State.  After  the  adoption  of  the  Kansas 
amendment  by  a  vote  o£  the  people  at  the  November  elec- 
tion in  1880,  .Mr.  Finch,  who  at  the  January  session  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  had  been  elected  the  official  head  of  the  Good 
Templar  Order  in  Nebraska,  gave  his  whole  time,  and  used 
the  entire  machinery  of  the  Order  to  secure  the  submission 
of  a  similar  amendment  in  his  own  State.  In  this  work  the 


110  TELE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Christian  ministers  and  churches  and  all  the  temperance 
societies  were  heartily  enlisted. 

During  the  two  months  intervening  between  the  State 
election  and  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature,  he  was  con- 
stantly engaged  in  public  meetings,  lecturing  but  one  even- 
ing in  each  town,  and  everywhere  urging  the  importance 
of  the  amendment  and  the  necessity  of  active  and  vigilant 
effort  in  its  behalf.  To  those  portions  of  the  State  which 
he  could  not  reach,  he  wrote  hundreds  of  letters  to  the 
workers  explaining  the  work  demanded  of  them  and  plead- 
ing for  prompt  action. 

Before  the  session  convened,  he  had  arranged  to  have 
scores  of  letters,  written  by  influential  constituents,  sent  to 
each  member-elect  of  the  Legislature.  These  letters  de- 
manded the  submission  of  the  amendment.  Petitions 
signed  by  thousands  of  citizens  were  sent  in,  to  be  presented 
to  the  Solons  at  the  proper  time. 

When  the  Legislature  met,  Mr.  Finch  called  the  most 
influential  temperance  men  in  the  State  to  the  capital, 
rented  rooms  for  headquarters  of  all  workers,  and  main- 
tained constant  communication  with  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  Senate  who  were  most  favor- 
ably disposed  toward  the  amendment  bill. 

The  Grand  Lodge  met  during  the  first  week  of  the  legis- 
lative session.  Mr.  Finch  had  used  every  effort  to  make 
this  the  largest,  as  he  felt  it  was  the  most  important,  gather- 
ing of  Good  Templars  ever  convened  in  the  State.  The 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  Ill 

sanguine  enthusiasm  of  their  leader  had  spread  among  the 
lodges,  and  they  nearly  all  were  fully  represented. 

Mr.  Finch  was  unanimously  re-elected  ;  very  strong  reso- 
lutions in  favor  of  the  amendment  were  adopted,  and  all 
the  expense  of  the  petitions  that  had  been  sent  out,  the 
maintenance  of  headquarters,  and  the  expenses  of  workers 
to  remain  in  the  city  till  the  fate  of  the  bill  was  decided, 
were  cheerfully  assumed  by  the  Grand  Lodge.  The  body 
adjourned  and  the  members  went  to  their  homes  filled  with 
encouragement  and  high  hope  of  success. 

Mr.  Finch  labored  night  and  day  for  the  passage  of  the 
Prohibitory  Amendment  Bill,  waiting  till  the  adjournment 
of  House  or  Senate,  late  at  night,  to  meet  some  members 
and  arising  early  to  secure  interviews  with  others  before 
the  House  convened  in  the  morning. 

Close  observation  gave  him  a  clear  insight  into  the  hearts 
of  many  members  who  believed  they  were  concealing  their 
intentions  from  his  keen  gaze.  Some  days  before  the  final 
vote  was  taken  he  wrote  in  his  diary  : 

"  I  think  the  bill  will  be  beaten.  Political  cowards  and 
knaves  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  fight  against  us." 

But,  like  William  of  Orange,  he  was  ready  to  fight  the 
battle  just  as  earnestly  and  bravely  when  anticipating  defeat 
as  if  he  had  been  certain  of  victory. 

Before  the  committee  of  the  House  he  made  an  elaborate 
argument,  meeting  and  answering  every  objection  that  had 
been  raised  either  against  the  submission  of  the  question  or 


112  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

against  the  principle  of  prohibition.*  No  man  answered 
or  attempted  to  answer  it. 

Omaha  and  Lincoln  liqnor  manufacturers  and  dealers,  and 
those  of  other  cities,  flocked  to  the  capital  with  consterna- 
tion written  in  their  faces,  and  "  big  figures"  written  in 
their  check-books  for  any  man  who  would  sell  to  them  his 
conscience. 

Money  won  the  battle.  Six  traitors,  representing,  or 
misrepresenting,  temperance  constituencies,  and  pledged  to 
their  supporters  to  vote  for  the  submission,  yielded  to  the 
pressure  of  the  liquor  men.  February  24th  the  test  vote 
came,  and  after  every  absentee  that  could  be  secured  had 
been  sent  for,  one  vote  was  lacking  of  the  necessary  three 
fifths  required  to  submit  constitutional  questions. 

When  Mr.  Finch  returned  home  late  that  night  his  wife 
noticed,  for  the  first  time,  a  look  almost  like  despair  in  his 
face.  For  once  his  sanguine  spirit  yielded  to  depression. 

"  Puss,"  he  said  sadly,  "  the  bill  is  beaten.  I  feel  as  if 
I  had  been  to  the  funeral  of  a  friend." 

"  The  defeat  of  the  bill  will  make  many  funerals  in 
Nebraska, ' '  she  solemnly  answered.  Then  both  were  silent, 
as  mourners  sitting  in  a  house  of  death. 

With  the  morning  came  brighter  hope  and  a  more  confi- 
dent feeling  concerning  legislation.  Meeting  the  leaders 
who  had  acted  with  him,  they  held  a  hurried  conference 


The  speech  is  given  entire  at  the  close  of  this  chapter. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  113 

early  in  the  forenoon,  to  determine  what  steps  should  next 
be  taken.  Most  of  them  leaned  toward  the  Slocumb  High- 
License  Bill.  Mr.  Finch,  Dr.  S.  H.  King,  and  one  or  two 
others,  believed  the  wisest  course  would  be  to  introduce  a 
bill  to  prohibit  the  liquor  traffic  by  statute,  and  as  this 
would  only  require  the  votes  of  a  majority  of  the  members 
of  each  House,  instead  of  the  three-fifths  vote  required  to 
pass  a  constitutional  amendment  bill,  there  was  some  reason 
to  hope  for  its  passage.  But  as  the  session  was  rapidly 
drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  measure  had  not  yet  been 
introduced,  it  was  finally  decided  to  use  all  their  efforts  to 
secure  the  passage  of  the  Slocumb  bill,  with  some  additional 
penalties,  if  they  could  be  adopted. 

Mr.  Finch  threw  his  whole  soul  into  the  work  of  carry- 
ing out  this  plan,  as  zealously  and  faithfully  as  though  it 
had  been  his  own. 

The  legislators  evidently  feared  the  storm  of  indignation 
that  was  sure  to  meet  them  when  they  returned  to  their 
constituents,  and  were  greatly  gratified  to  find  the  temper- 
ance men  supporting  a  license  bill.  By  the  end  of  two 
days  the  Slocumb  bill  had  been  rushed  through  both 
Houses,  and  the  first  day  of  May  fixed  for  the  time  for  its 
going  into  operation. 

Mr.  Finch  had  not  been  successful  in  amending  the  bill 
in  the  direction  of  greater  stringency  to  the  extent  he  had 
desired,  but  a  few  important  changes  were  made,  and  the 
fatal  experiment  went  on  trial. 


114  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Tli at  Mr.  Finch  had  no  special  cause  to  feel  the  burden 
of  responsibility  for  the  high-license  compromise,  and  all 
the  long  train  of  disastrous  results  to  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance which  followed  its  adoption,  is  apparent. 

For  two  years  he  had  labored  incessantly  to  build  np 
prohibition  sentiment  in  the  State.  Never  in  any  public 
speech  or  published  or  private  letter  had  he  advocated  any 
less  radical  measure  than  the  total  overthrow  of  the  drink 
traffic  by  law.  The  whole  tenor  of  his  thoughts,  the  one 
aim  of  his  life  work,  was  in  the  direction  of  utter  annihila- 
tion of  license  and  protective  statutes  for  the  liquor  busi- 
ness. 

The  unceasing  work  of  the  winter  he  had  given  wholly 
to  the  principle  of  prohibition,  and  not  till  that  measure 
failed  to  pass,  could  he  be  induced  to  sanction  any  other 
plan,  and  then  only  as  an  unwilling  follower  of  others,  and 
not  in  his  own  rightful  place  as  leader  and  commander. 

How  bitterly  he  regretted  even  this  reluctant  adherence 
to  a  mistaken  policy  he  confessed  on  a  hundred  platforms 
in  the  years  that  followed. 

As  Lowell  said  : 

"  Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold.     Wrong  forever  on  the  throne," 
so  it  proved  when  high  license  triumphed. 

"  But  that  scaffold  hides  the  futxu-e,  and  beyond  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow,  keeping  watch  above  His  own." 

In  the  wisdom  of  God,  good  is  being  wrought  by  the  tern- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  115 

porary  adoption  of  that  evil  system.  It  was,  perhaps, 
necessary  that  the  world  should  see  tried,  that  last  possible 
experiment  in  regulating  wrong,  and  behold  its  lamentable 
failure. 

No  license  statute  ever  had  a  fairer  chance  to  win  ap- 
proval. The  men  who  had  longest  and  most  persistently 
refused  to  approve  the  saloon,  had  been  won  to  give  assent 
to  the  new  system  of  regulation.  The  friends  of  the 
measure  made  large  promises  of  benefit  from  it,  and  the 
men  who  had  never  before  expressed  faith  in  any  license 
law.  believed  these  pledges  would  be  fulfilled,  and  were  will- 
ing to  give  their  best  energies  to  aid  in  securing  the  ex- 
pected good  results. 

While  a  few  temperance  men  may  have  then  thought 
that  the  Slocumb  law  was  all  that  would  be  required  to 
banish  the  evils  of  intemperance,  Mr.  Finch  never  for  a 
single  hour  considered  it  more  than  a  possible  stepping- 
stone  to  prohibition.  He  was  ready  to  use  it  honestly  as  a 
means,  but  never  accepted  it  as  an  end  to  be  sought  or  desired. 

His  keen  observation  first  found  its  flaws  and  failures, 
and  neither  selfish  pride,  nor  the  fear  of  being  called  incon- 
sistent, restrained  him  from  his  prompt  action  to  counteract 
the  influence  of  his  connection  with  the  efforts  for  its 
adoption. 

•  He  did  far  more  than  did  the  projectors  and  advocates  of 
the  high-license  law  to  secure  the  thorough  enforcement  of 
its  provisions.  For  a  time  the  bitter  hostility  of  the  saloon- 


116  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B,   FINCH. 

keepers  in  Omaha  and  two  or  three  other  towns  misled  him 
and  others  into  the  belief  that  there  was  some  strength  in 
the  law,  some  power  to  cripple  the  dram-shops. 

When  brave  Colonel  Watson  B.  Smith,  of  Omaha, 
attempted  to  compel  obedience  to  the  new  law  on  the  part 
of  the  defiant  saloon-keepers  of  that  city,  Mr.  Finch  was  in 
constant  correspondence  with  him.  When  the  noble  col- 
onel, whose  life  had  been  repeatedly  threatened  by  the 
desperate  saloon-keepers,  summoned  him  to  Omaha  for  a 
last  consultation  before  final  prosecutions  on  a  more  exten- 
sive scale,  he  swiftly  answered,  and  spent  several  hours  in 
Colonel  Smith's  office  perfecting  plans.  He  left  the  office 
at  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  promising  to  meet  the 
colonel  early  next  morning,  and  went  to  his  hotel  to  sleep, 
wakening  to  hear  the  terrible  announcement  that  Colonel 
Smith  had  been  foully  murdered,  during  the  night,  at  his 
office  door  in  the  Government  building. 

Scarcely  waiting  to  dress,  Mr.  Finch  sent  the  associated 
press  a  telegram  offering,  in  the  name  of  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Good  Templars,  $500  reward  for  the  arrest  and  convic- 
tion of  the  murderers.  His  example  was  followed  by  the 
governor  and  by  citizens  and  business  men  of  Omaha  until 
the  aggregate  of  rewards  offered  reached  the  sum  of  $10,- 
000.  This  large  reward  failed  to  bring  the  perpetrators 
of  the  murder  to  justice.  Mr.  Finch  held  many  consulta- 
tions with  the  detectives,  but  their  best  efforts  never  availed 
to  find  a  reasonable  clew  to  the  mystery. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  117 

The  speech  before  the  Legislature,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  is  here  appended.  It  indicates  clearly  the 
position  occupied  by  Mr.  Finch  during  the  session  in  which 
the  high-license  law  was  passed. 

SHALL  PROHIBITORY  LEGISLATION  DISCRIMINATE  IN  FAVOE 
OF   THE   BEER   TRAFFIC? 

A   SPEECH    BY    JOHN   B.    FINCH    BEFOEE    A   COMMITTEE   OF    THE    LEGISLATURE 
OF    NEEKASKA,    JANUARY,    1881. 

The  above  question  having  been  discussed  before  the  committee  by 
the  advocates  of  the  use  of  beer,  Mr.  Finch,  addressing  the  committee, 
said  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  The  magnitude  of  this  question  cannot  be  overesti- 
mated. The  traffic  which  it  is  proposed  to  exterminate  is  gigantic  ;  one 
that  affects  the  moral,  social,  business,  and  political  life  of  the  nation. 

"  The  proper  relations  of  the  traffic  to  society,  and  society's  duty  to 
the  traffic  and  itself,  have  been  for  years  earnestly  discussed  by  our 
ablest  and  best  citizens. 

"  At  the  outset  of  this  discussion  the  fact  which,  more  than  all  others, 
forces  itself  upon  our  attention  is — '  this  question  must  be  settled. ' 

"  The  issues  involved  in  the  temperance  movement  are  not  useless 
delusions,  born  in  the  brain  of  some  idle  visionary,  but  issues  evolved 
from  the  necessities  of  the  people,  caused  by  the  legalized  drunkard- 
making  system  of  the  United  States. 

"  Since  the  need  of  organized  effort  to  abate  the  evils  of  the  drink 
traffic  forced  itself  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  in  the  early  part  of 
this  century,  the  movement  has  been  steadily  onward,  until  to-day  it  is 
the  politico-religious  question  of  the  country.  Like  Banquo's  ghost,  it 
will  not  down.  In  every  precinct,  village,  city,  State,  and  national  elec- 
tion it  forces  itself  to  the  front,  and  judging  the  futiire  by  the  past,  will 


118  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

continue  to  force  itself  to  the  front  until  it  is  settled.  Neither  black- 
guardism, slander,  bulldozing,  nor  corruption  can  stop  its  onward  prog- 
ress. The  prisons,  almshouses,  gambling  hells,  houses  of  prostitution — 
in  short,  all  the  disgraceful  results  and  progeny  of  the  liquor  traffic,  by 
their  encroachments  on  everything  dear  to  a  liberty-loving  and  civilized 
people,  force  thinking  men  to  act,  whether  they  will  or  no. 

"  '  History  is  philosophy  teaching  by  example,'  some  one  has  said  ; 
and  with  the  fact  that  this  question  must  be  settled,  history,  in  the  light 
of  experience,  places  another  fact  :  a  question  is  never  settled  until  it  is 
settled  right. 

' '  Gentlemen,  the  issue  involved  in  this  movement  must  be  settled. 
This  settlement  can  only  be  permanent  when  the  terms  are  in  accord 
with  the  immutable  principles  of  the  Creator  of  the  universe..  The  his- 
tory of  nations  proves  absolutely  that  compromise,  where  principle  is 
sacrificed  to  effect  it,  is  the  most  fatal  form  of  defeat  which  right  can 
sustain  in  a  contest  with  wrong.  Tell  one  lie  and  you  will  find  it  neces- 
sary to  tell  others  to  avoid  detection  in  the  first  ;  make  a  concession  to 
wrong  and  you  will  find  that  many  more  concessions  will  be  urged  to 
improve  the  conditions  upon  which  the  first  was  granted. 

'  Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again,' 

"  From  the  many  trials  where  this  principle  has  been  sustained,  take 
the  American  Revolution  as  an  example.  The  mother  country  claimed 
only  the  right  to  subject  the  colonies  to  the  undefined  and  arbitrary 
power  of  taxation  by  Parliament.  Parliament,  by  statute,  declared  that 
'  the  colonies  and  plantations  of  America  have  been,  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  subordinate  to  and  dependent  upon  the  imperial  crown  and 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  ; '  and  that  the  king,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  Parliament,  '  had,  hath,  and  of  right  ought  to  have  full  power 
and  authority  to  make  statutes  of  sufficient  force  and  validity  to  bind 
the  colonies  and  people  of  America  in  all  cases  whatsoever.'  * 


*  6  Geo.,  3  ch.,  12. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  119 

"  By  this  act  Parliament  sought  to  destroy  a  correct  principle  of  gov- 
ernment for  the  purpose  of  raising  revenue.  The  inevitable  result  fol- 
lowed. The  people  in  the  colonies  prepared  to  resist  the  encroachments 
upon  their  rights.  Parliament,  seeing  the  storm  which  its  unjust  legis- 
lation had  raised,  endeavored  to  allay  it  by  modifying  the  first  demand, 
and  by  another  act  declared  that  Parliament  would  not  impose  any  duty 
or  tax  on  the  colonies  except  for  the  regulation  of  commerce,  and  that 
the  net  proceeds  of  such  duty  or  tax  should  be  applied  to  the  use  of 
the  colony  in  which  it  was  levied.* 

"  This  practically  surrendered  to  the  colonists  all  the  positions  they 
had  claimed,  except  the  right  of  Parliament  to  lay  the  tax.  A  celebrated 
American  who,  at  this  stage  of  affairs,  was  asked  :  '  Would  you  have 
the  colonies  engage  in  war  over  a  question  of  a  few  pence  on  a  pound  of 
tea  ?  '  answered  :  '  It  is  not  the  amount  of  the  tax,  but  the  accursed  claim 
that  Parliament  has  the  right  to  lay  any  tax,  that  I  am  opposing.'  The 
sturdy  colonists  stood  by  their  leaders.  The  bloody  war  which  followed 
settled  the  question  right,  and  the  imperial  crown  of  Great  Britain  lost 
its  brightest  gem. 

"  This  principle  has  also  been  demonstrated  at  a  much  later  date. 
The  representatives  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  de- 
clared :  '  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident  :  that  all  men  are  cre- 
ated equal  ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalien- 
able rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness.' Mr.  Jefferson,  in  his  original  draft,  emphasized  the  words  '  all 
men,'  by  these  words  :  '  He  [the  king]  has  waged  cruel  war  against 
human  nature  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred  rights  of  life  and  liberty, 
in  the  persons  of  a  distant  people  who  never  offended  him,  captivating 
and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another  hemisphere,  or  to  incur  mis- 
erable death  in  their  transportation  thither.  This  piratical  warfare,  the 
opprobrium  of  the  infidel  powers,  is  the  warfare  of  the  Christian  King  of 


*  18  Geo.,  3  ch.,  12. 


120  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Great  Britain.  Determined  to  open  a  market  where  men  should  be 
bought  and  sold,  he  has  prostituted  his  negative  for  suppressing  every 
legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  or  restrain  this  execrable  commerce.  And 
that  this  assemblage  of  horrors  might  want  no  fact  of  distinguished  dye, 
he  is  now  exciting  those  very  people  to  rise  in  arms  among  us,  and  to 
purchase  that  liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them  by  murdering  the 
people  upon  whom  he  also  obtruded  them,  thus  paying  off  former  crimes 
committed  against  the  liberties  of  one  people  with  the  crimes  which  he 
urges  them  to  commit  against  the  lives  of  another.'* 

"  Slavery  existed  in  the  colonies  ;  the  representatives  feared  dissent ; 
the  clause  was  stricken  out,  and  the  general  term  '  all '  left  undefined 
and  unemphasized.  The  long  years  of  physical  and  mental  struggle  for 
freedom  which  followed  extended  the  mental  horizon  of  American  states- 
men, and  they  began  to  see  that  '  all  men '  might  possibly  include  Afri- 
cans, and  thus  the  compromise  of  the  Declaration  was  forced  into  the 
constitutional  convention.  There  the  wrong  of  slavery  was  not  denied, 
but  the  feelings  of  the  delegates  were  expressed  by  one  who  said  :  '  We 
have  got  a  wolf  by  the  ears  and  we  dare  not  hold  on  nor  let  go.'  To  do 
right  seemed  to  endanger  a  national  form  of  government,  and  the  com- 
promise of  the  Declaration  was  followed  by  the  compromise  of  the  Con- 
stitution. The  word  slavery  was  an  obnoxious  one  to  men  just  emerg- 
ing from  a  long  bloody  war  for  their  own  liberties  ;  it  was  left  out  of  the 
Constitution  and  only  referred  to  in  general  terms,  as  though  its  exist- 
ence was  to  be  overlooked  rather  than  recognized.  Regulate  and  re- 
strain was  the  policy  adopted  \  as  the  best  thing  that  could  be  done  under 
the  circumstances.  Madison,  speaking  of  the  compromise,  half  apolo- 
getically said  :  '  It  were  doubtless  to  be  wished  that  the  power  of  pro- 
hibiting the  importation  of  slaves  had  not  been  postponed' until  the  year 
1808,  or  rather  that  it  had  been  suffered  to  have  immediate  operation. 
But  it  is  not  difficult  to  account  either  for  this  restriction  on  the  gen- 


*  Jefferson's  Works,  1,  23.  f  Constitution,  Sec.  9. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  121 

eral  government  or  for  the  manner  in  which  the  whole  clause  is  ex- 
pressed. It  ought  to  be  considered  a  great  point  gained  in  favor  of 
humanity  that  a  period  of  twenty  years  may  terminate  forever  within 
these  States  a  traffic  which  has  so  long  and  so  loud*ly  upbraided  the  bar- 
barism of  modern  policy  ;  that  within  that  period  it  will  receive  a  con- 
siderable discouragement  from  the  general  government,  and  may  be 
totally  abolished  by  a  concurrence  of  the  few  States  which  continue  the 
unnatural  traffic.'* 

"  The  delegates  labored  under  the  delusion  that  the  question  was  placed 
by  their  action  in  a  position  where  it  would  settle  itself,  but  upon  the 
slumber  of  exhaustion  of  prostituted  principle  broke  like  a  fire-bell  in 
the  night  the  ringing  words  of  John  Kandolph  :  '  I  know  there  are 
gentlemen  not  only  from  the  Northern  but  from  the  Southern  States 
who  think  this  unhappy  question — for  such  it  is — of  negro  slavery, 
which  the  Constitution  has  vainly  tried  to  blink  by  not  using  the  term, 
should  never  be  brought  to  public  notice,  more  especially  that  of  Con- 
gress, and  most  especially  here.  Sir,  with  every  due  respect  to  the 
gentlemen  who  think  so,  I  differ  from  them  tolo  ccelo.  Sir,  it  is  a  thing 
which  cannot  be  hid  ;  it  is  not  a  dry-rot  which  you  can  cover  with  a 
carpet  until  the  house  tumbles  about  your  ears  ;  you  might  as  well  try 
to  hide  a  volcano  in  full  operation  ;  it  cannot  be  hid  ;  it  is  a  cancer  in 
your  face,  and  must  be  treated  secundum  arlem ;  it  must  not  be  tampered 
with  by  quacks  who  never  saw  the  disease  or  the  patient. 'f  Brave, 
patriotic  words.  Compromise  followed  compromise — 1803,  1819,  1840, 
1844,  1850,  1856— the  old  ulcer  on  the  body  politic  deeper,  the  moral 
pulse  of  the  nation  grew  feebler,  but  God  was  not  asleep  ;  the  cry  of  the 
bondman  had  reached  His  ear,  the  stench  of  human  blood  had  offended 
His  nostril.  To-day  along  the  mountains,  vales,  and  valleys  of  the 
Sunny  Southland  the  cold  sod  is  heavy  over  the  forms  of  the  grandest, 
bravest  men  of  the  nation — boys  who  wore  the  blue,  boys  who  wore  the 


*  Federalist,  No.  42.  f  Garland's  Life  of  Kandolph. 


122  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

gray — whose  blood  was  poured  out  as  a  libation  upon  the  nation's  altar 
to  atone  for  an  accursed  compromise  which  might  have  at  one  time 
been  stricken  out  with  a  pen. 

"  In  the  reddest  of  American  blood  is  written, 

"  '  A  question  is  never  settltd  until  it  is  settled  right.' 

"  That  the  question — what  shall  be  the  governmental  policy  in  rela- 
tion to  the  alcoholic  liquor  traffic?— is  one  to  which  this  principle 
applies,  certainly,  gentlemen,  if  you  have  studied  the  history  and  results 
of  governmental  action  in  the  case,  you  cannot  doubt.  The  drink  sys- 
tem is  not  the  product  of  our  liberties,  institutions,  or  civilizations — not 
an  American  institution.  It  is  a  mushroom  from  the  dunghills  of 
Europe,  transplanted  into  our  American  soil  by  the  lowest  and  most 
ignorant  of  foreign  immigration.  Its  results  here  have  been  the  same 
as  in  Europe — drunkenness,  debauchery,  vice,  crime,  riot,  communism. 
In  the  rich  soil  and  genial  climate  of  our  form  of  government  it  bore 
fruit  early,  and  in  1786  the  Government  of  Virginia  found  it  necessary 
to  protect  her  people  from  the  multitude  of  evils  resultant  from  the 
traffic  and  conditions  favorable  to  its  development.  As  increasing  pop- 
ulation, seconded  by  wise  statesmanship,  has  enlarged  the  nation's  bor- 
ders, it  has  grown  with  our  growth  and  increased  with  our  strength  ; 
only  crippled  where  persistent  prohibitory  efforts  have  made  the  con- 
ditions for  its  development  unfavorable.  The  evil  has  long  been  admit- 
ted by  all  parties,  and  a  persistent  effort  to  remedy  it  been  carried  on 
by  a  few.  Compromise  has  followed  compromise — unrestrained  sale, 
license,  high  license,  civil  damage,  local  option — and  I  wish  to  assert,  in 
the  light  of  history,  that  all  of  these  compromises  have  been  failures  to 
just  the  extent  that  principle  has  been  sacrificed,  and  successes  just  to 
the  extent  that  right  has  been  recognized  and  prohibitory  features  incor- 
porated into  their  texts  ;  that  the  prohibitory,  not  the  license  features 
of  these  laws  have  been  the  disinfectants  which  have  rendered  it  pos- 
sible for  a  civilized,  intelligent  people  to  endure  them.  Now,  after  years 
of  waiting,  years  of  trial,  of  license  panaceas,  regulation  nostrums,  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  123 

restraint  poultices,  all  of  which  have  proved  failures,  the  question  pushes 
itself  to  the  front  and  asserts  : 

"  It  must  be  settled. 

"  It  must  be  settled  right. 

"  These  propositions  granted,  the  trial  of  the  traffic  and  final  action 
follow. 

"  In  entering  upon  this  debatable  ground,  I  wish  you  to  fully  under- 
stand my  position  to  be  : 

"First.  This  is  not  a  personal  matter  between  the  drunkard-makers 
and  the  people  of  this  country.  Whether  the  drunkard-maker  is  a 
scoundrel  or  a  gentleman  weighs  not  an  atom  in  settling  the  merits  of 
the  case.  For  the  purposes  of  this  investigation  it  matters  not  whether 
he  is  a  devil  or  an  angel  of  light.  If  he  is  an  angel  he  cannot  make  a 
devilish  principle  a  good  one  ;  if  he  is  a  devil  he  cannot  make  a  God- 
given  principle  a  bad  one.  The  question  is,  '  What  is  the  cause  of  and 
remedy  for  the  evils  growing  out  of  the  drink  traffic  ?'  If  the  whole 
brood  of  drunkard-makers  in  America  could  be  hung  to-morrow  morn- 
ing, unless  we  could  destroy  the  system  that  produced  them,  sear  the 
neck  of  the  license  hydra  with  public  opinion  in  the  hands  of  Prohibi- 
tion Solons,  another  crop  would  spring  up  in  three  months. 

"  Second.  The  American  citizen,  and  especially  you,  gentlemen,  as 
representatives  of  the  people,  must  enter  upon  the  investigation  of  this 
question,  determined  to  examine  fully  all  sides  of  it,  and  weigh  carefully 
the  arguments  and  investigate  the  alleged  facts  produced  by  the  advo- 
cates who  claim  to  represent  these  sides,  and  then,  on  the  weight  of  evi- 
dence presented,  base  your  action.  Anything  less  would  not  be  reason- 
able ;  anything  less  would  not  be  honest.  In  this  investigation  all  men 
must  be  believed  to  be  honest  in  their  treatment  of  the  question  and  of 
the  views  they  hold,  or  seem  to  hold,  in  relation  to  it.  Blackguardism, 
sneers,  and  reckless  statements  are  out  of  place.  And,  gentlemen,  I  am 
forcibly  impressed  by  the  language  of  the  talented,  eloquent,  and  learned 
gentleman  who  preceded  me  on  the  other  side,  with  the  fact  that  a  black- 


124  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

guard  is  as  much  out  of  place  in  the  field  of  honest,  manly  discussion 
as  a  monkey  would  be  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord.  A  man  engaged  in 
either  intellectual  or  physical  warfare  never  throws  mud  when  he  can 
use  rocks  ;  and  when  an  individual  stoops  to  using  mud  in  a  discussion 
like  this,  it  is  prima  fade  evidence  that  his  supply  of  the  rocks  of  reason 
are  exhausted,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  he  never  had  a  supply.  The 
copious  use  of  epithets,  like  fanatic,  zealot,  and  visionary,  is  not  argu- 
ment, but  rather  an  indication  of  a  cerebral  vacuum  in  the  head  of  the 
user.  To  think,  gentlemen,  that  you  could  be  influenced  by  such  terms 
is  an  insult  to  your  intelligence,  and  the  only  extenuating  feature  of  the 
argument  is  the  appearance  and  language  of  the  advocate,  who  evidently 
has  no  appreciation  of  a  higher  grade  of  intellect  than  his  own.  Such 
being  the  case,  he  is  to  be  pitied  rather  than  punished,  and  I  hope, 
gentlemen,  that  his  weakness  may  not  prejudice  you  against  his  cause, 
but  that  the  issue  involved,  not  the  intelligence  of  the  advocates,  may 
be  tried.  The  temperance  men  have  no  use  for  the  style  of  argument 
followed  by  the  gentleman.  They  believe  they  are  advocating  correct 
principles,  and  that  the  facts  and  arguments  upon  which  they  base  their 
line  of  action  are  so  nearly  self-evident  that  a  presentation  in  a  fair, 
gentlemanly  way  will  convince  thinking,  intelligent  people  that  their 
line  of  action  is  just  and  right.  The  temperance  leaders  believe  the 
people  are  intelligent  and  fully  capable  of  passing  on  any  plan  of  gov- 
ernmental policy  ;  that  the  people  are  the  court  of  last  resort,  and  that 
all  questions  of  this  kind  must  be  settled  by  them.  In  accordance  with 
this  idea  they  have  gone  to  the  people  as  to  a  jury,  and  presenting  an 
indictment  against  the  drink  traffic  and  the  facts  on  which  it  was  found, 
have  asked  that  the  traffic  be  tried  and  a  verdict  rendered  in  accordance 
with  the  evidence.  The  object  and  purpose  of  their 'work  they  have 
never  concealed.  They  piirpose  to  bury  the  whole  liquor  system  in  the 
same  way  the  Welsh  woman  said  she  would  bury  the  devil,  '  with  his 
face  down,  so  if  he  ever  came  to  life  the  more  he  dug  the  deeper  he  got. ' 
This  determination  is  not  a  hasty  one,  but  a  cool,  deliberate  purpose, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  125 

formed  after  an  examination  of  all  tlie  facts  in  the  case.  The  indict- 
ment is  asked  upon  which  this  sweeping  change  is  proposed.  Let  me 
dip  my  finger  in  the  blood  of  some  murdered  man  and  write  it  on  this 
wall,  then  make  the  letters  indelible  with  the  tears  of  his  broken-hearted 
wife  and  child.  Head  : 

"First.  From  the  day  the  liquor  business  was  introduced  into  this 
country  from  Europe,  it  has  existed  as  a  bitter,  blighting,  damning 
curse  on  everything  decent,  virtuous,  and  holy.  Its  record  proves  it  the 
enemy  of  law,  order,  morality,  Christianity,  and  civilization. 

"  Second.  The  legalized  liquor  traffic  is  the  cause  of  more  than  six 
sevenths  of  the  pauperism  and  four  fifths  of  the  crime  in  the  nation. 
The  retail  liquor-shops  are  the  hotbeds  where  outlaws  germinate,  the 
cradles  where  crime  is  nursed. 

"  Third.  The  liquor-drinking  customs  are  the  fountain-head  of  all  that 
is  vile,  low,  lecherous,  and  devilish  in  our  large  centres  of  population. 

"  There  is  the  indictment,  gentlemen.  The  temperance  men  say  it  is 
true  and  can  be  proved.  Bring  the  liquor  traffic  into  the  court  of  the 
people  and  let  it  plead,  guilty  or  not  guilty.  The  traffic  will  not  be 
allowed  to  plead  the  baby  act.  The  indictment  is  positive.  The  only 
question  is,  is  it  true  or  false  ?  A  simple  question  of  fact.  All  the 
liquor  men  have  to  do  is  to  prove  the  indictment  false,  and  the  issue  is 
settled  in  this  country.  If  the  indictment  is  false  the  temperance  men 
are  slanderers,  maligners,  and  dangerous  demagogues  ;  if  it  is  true  no 
sophistry  can  justify,  no  eloquence  extenuate  the  black  record  of  the 
traffic. 

"Will  the  liquor  traffic  come  into  court?  Dare  it  meet  the  indict- 
ment ?  No.  The  allegations  cannot  be  refuted — they  are  true.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  prohibitory  campaign  of  1880  in  Nebraska,  Dr.  S. 
H.  King,  Chairman  of  the  Prohibition  Committee,  in  an  open  letter 
addressed  to  the  drunkard-makers,  said  :  '  To  give  you  a  chance  to  meet 
the  damning  charges  against  your  business,  the  temperance  forces  make 
the  following  offer  :  They  will  pay  the  expenses  of  halls,  advertise  the 


126  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

meeting,  and  furnish  speakers  to  meet  your  speakers,  and  discuss  these 
charges  before  the  people  of  the  State. '  The  answer  of  the  drunkard- 
makers'  chief  was  :  '  We  had  rather  give  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  keep 
you  from  submitting  the  question  to  the  people  than  to  try  to  beat  you 
if  you  succeed  in  getting  it  before  them." 

"  Having  thus  examined  the  general  features  of  the  reform,  and  the 
intentions,  methods,  and  purposes  of  the  opposing  hosts,  let  us  now 
proceed  to  examine  the  question  directly  under  consideration  : 

"  '  Shall  the  beer  traffic  be  favored  in  the  proposed  prohibitory  legis- 
lation ? ' 

"  If  you  wish  to  dry  up  a  river  you  must  cut  off  its  sources.  If  you 
wish  to  avoid  an  effect,  you  must  remove  the  cause.  This  law  of  com- 
mon-sense should  be  applied  to  the  question  under  consideration.  I 
will  not  insult  your  intelligence  by  presuming  there  is  need  of  demon- 
strating to  you  that  the  lesser  alcoholic  beverages,  wine,  beer,  and  cider, 
are  the  A  B  C  of  the  drink  custom,  the  steps  by  which  youth  descends 
into  the  highway  of  drunkenness.  If  there  was  need,  this  evening  would 
not  be  long  enough  to  examine  the  evidence  which  could  be  brought  on 
this  point. 

"  The  issues  I  wish  to  raise  are  : 

"  First.  The  German  beer  customs  tend  to  the  destruction  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath.  You  say  you  will  take  care  of  America  without 
Sunday.  You  have  not  been  able  to  keep  her  in  order  with  Sunday. 
You  say  men  cannot  be  made  moral  by  legislation.  They  can  be  made 
immoral  by  the  want  of  it,  and  the  consequent  presence  of  temptation. 
You  say  that  the  Parisian  Sunday  would  be  better  for  our  productive 
work  in  the  factories  and  other  industries  of  the  land  than  the  New 
England  Sunday.  But  I  have  heard  that  after  a  Continental  Sunday 
comes  a  Continental  blue  Monday,  and  that  it's  very  common  in  France 
and  Germany,  and  even  in  England,  among  the  lower  class  of  oper- 
atives, for  Monday  to  be  an  idle  day  on  account  of  the  necessity  of 
recuperation  after  the  dissipation  of  Sunday.  Give  us  a  Parisian  or 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  127 

Continental  Sunday  and  our  trade  will  have  the  Continental  unproduc- 
tive Monday.  'Operatives  are  perfectly  right,'  said  John  Stuart  Mill, 
'  in  thinking  that  if  all  work  on  Sunday,  seven  days'  work  would  be 
given  for  six  days'  wages.'  Manufacturers  abroad  often  affirm  that 
American  operatives  can  well  demand  higher  prices  than  the  Continent- 
al, because  they  are  not  incapacitated  for  work  on  Monday  by  the 
effects  of  Sunday's  dissipation.  Only  the  Sunday  rightly  used  makes 
Monday  elastic.  Coleridge  said  that  God  gives  civilization,  in  its  Sun- 
days, fifty-two  springs  a  year.  Infidel  France,  during  her  revolution, 
while  opposing  Christianity  with  merciless  hatred,  and  abolishing  the 
Christian  calendar,  yet  made  provision  for  a  periodic  day  of  rest,  and 
enforced  its  observance  by  law.  An  enactment  of  17  Thermidor,  Aw. 
VI.,  required  the  public  offices,  schools,  workshops,  and  stores  to  be 
closed,  and  prohibited  sales  except  for  eatables  and  medicines,  and 
public  labor  except  in  the  country  during  seed-time  and  harvest.  This 
action  of  a  secularized,  anti-Christian  republic  is  sufficient  reply  to  any 
who  think  Sunday  laws  are  demanded  only  by  the  Christian  prejudices 
of  modern  civilized  nations.  The  French  legislation  required  rest  for 
tha  population  on  only  one  day  in  ten,  but  it  recognized  emphatically 
the  great  natural  law  of  periodicity  in  its  application  to  labor  and 
repose. 

"  The  black,  far-flapping  Gehenna  wings  of  the  French  He  volution, 
moving  through  history  as  a  bat  through  a  parlor  at  night,  and  putting 
out  the  candles,  left  the  taper  of  a  legalized  day  of  rest  still  shining.* 
The  degradation  of  the  Christian  Sunday  means  the  degradation  of  the 
laborer  ;  and  in  this  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  gentlemen,  you  must  realize  that  everything  depends  upon  the 
intelligence  and  morality  of  the  individual  citizen— the  government 
unit.  The  German  beer  customs  demand  the  destruction  of  this  day  ; 
and,  in  cities  where  this  element  controls,  they  have  accomplished  their 


*  Cook's  Socialism,  239. 


128  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

purpose,  and  Sunday  is  the  drunken  gala  day  of  the  week.  Gentlemen, 
no  beer-guzzling,  Sabbath-breaking  people  have  ever  been  able  to  estab- 
lish a  government  that,  for  any  length  of  time,  retained  even  the  sem- 
blance of  liberty.  Political  institutions  are  the  outgrowth  of  social  cus- 
toms, not  social  customs  the  outgrowth  of  political  institutions.  Ameri- 
can liberty  is  the  resultant  of  the  morals  and  intelligence  of  the  founders 
of  this  government,  and  it  will  disappear  when  the  intelligence  and  mo- 
rality sink  below  that  of  the  fathers.  The  German  Government  and 
despotism  is  the  legitimate  outgrowth  of  the  German  social  system,  and 
whenever  Americans  adopt  the  German  system,  we  shall  need  and  will 
have  the  German  form  of  government  to  control  it. 

"  Second.  The  German  beer  customs  tend  to  the  destruction  of  the 
home  life  of  the  country.  The  keystone  of  the  American  civilization  is 
the  American  home.  I  would,  gentlemen,  I  could  take  you  to  the 
frontier,  cattle,  and  mining  towns  of  this  country,  where  home  life 
is  comparatively  unknown,  and  by  ocular  demonstration  impress  this 
fact  upon  your  minds  ;  show  you  how  the  words  mother  and  home 
have  the  power  to  awaken  the  latent  manhood,  and  lead  out  to  a 
grander  and  better  life  men  far  down  in  the  scale  of  human  degrada- 
tion. Gentlemen,  we  all  realize  how  great  is  this  influence  in  public 
life.  The  opposition  we  meet  makes  us  hard,  uncharitable,  cynical, 
and,  when  gone  from  home  for  months,  bitter  and  selfish.  We  return 
to  our  homes,  and  hatred,  selfishness,  bitterness,  cynicism,  vanish.  A 
man  never  goes  from  home  with  the  kiss  of  wife  upon  his  lips  and  the 
soft  touch  of  baby  fingers  lingering  in  pleasant  memories  on  his  neck, 
but  feels  more  charity  for  his  fellow-men,  more  love  for  humanity,  and 
a  renewed  zeal  to  build  himself  up  in  all  that  pertains  to  a  good  life. 
Home  is  the  moral  conservator  of  the  nation — the  antidote  for  commu- 
nism, socialism,  riot,  bloodshed  ;  and  any  institution  or  custom  that 
tends  to  destroy  the  home  life  of  this  country  is  a  terrible  enemy  to  all 
our  institutions.  The  gentleman  on  the  other  side  has  said,  '  The  whole 
family  is  taken  to  the  beer-garden.'  Gentlemen,  his  statement  is  but 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  129 

too  true.  The  private  associations  of  home  life  are  superseded  by  the 
public  associations  of  the  beer-gardens,  and  the  moral  influences  of 
private  association  with  father  and  mother  give  way  to  the  libidinous 
influences  of  public  drinking,  and  the  vilest  immorality  follows  as  an 
inevitable  result.  The  whiskey  saloon  ruins  the  father — the  beer-saloon 
ruins  the  father  and  debauches  the  mother  and  the  daughter.  Few 
women  drink  whiskey— many  women  drink  beer.  The  rapid  increase 
of  drunkenness  among  the  wom'en  of  German-American  cities  is  un- 
doubtedly the  result  of  these  customs. 

"  The  first  effect  is  to  degrade  the  parents,  and,  through  them,  their 
children.  The  influence  of  the  parents  upon  the  child  can  hardly  be 
over-estimated.  Dr.  Sanger,  resident  physician  of  Blackwell's  Island-, 
N.  Y.,  asked  two  thousand  prostitutes  the  foil  owing  questions  :  '  Did  your 
father  drink  intoxicating  liquors  ?  If  so,  to  what  extent  ?' 

Did  not  drink  liquor 548 

Drank  moderately 636 

Drank  intemperately 596 

Unascertained 220 

"  '  Did  your  mother  drink  intoxicating  liquors  ?    If  so,  to  what  extent  ? 

Did  not  drink  liquor 875 

Drank  moderately 574 

Drank  intemperately 347 

Unascertained 204 

"  The  doctor,  commenting  on  the  answers,  said  :  '  How  much  of  the 
intemperate  habit  of  these  women  may  be  traced  to  the  parents'  ex- 
ample !  One  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-two  fathers,  one  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  twenty-five  mothers  are  represented  as  having 
been  addicted  to  the  use  of  liquors  in  various  degrees,  the  moderate  in 
both  cases  exceeding  the  intemperate  drinkers.  And  yet,  even  moder- 
ate drinking,  when  pursued  by  parents  in  the  presence  of  or  to  the 


130  THE  LIFE!  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

knowledge  of  children,  is  a  practice  open  to  the  gravest  censure.  In  the 
mind  of  a  child,  any  action  is  deemed  right  if  performed  by  a  father  or 
mother.  As  the  children  advance  in  years  parental  customs  are  fol- 
lowed, and,  in  such  a  case  as  this,  probably  the  single  glass  of  beer  or 
wine  of  the  father  lays  the  foundation  of  intemperance  in  the  children. 
Without  undertaking  to  argue  the  question  of  the  absolute  necessity  for 
total  abstinence  from  all  liquors,  under  all  circumstances,  the  proposi- 
tion may  seriously  be  submitted  that  the  effect  of  this  personal  example 
upon  children  is  satisfactorily  ascertained  from  many  different  sources 
to  be  prejudicial  to  their  best  interests,  and  a  natural  deduction,  there- 
fore, is,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  parents  to  abstain.  Instances  are  upon 
record  where  both  fathers  and  mothers,  in  the  temporary  insanity  of  in- 
toxication, have  turned  their  daughters  from  home  into  the  streets.'* 

"  Dr.  Kuell,  in  his  report  on  drunkenness,  said  :  '  Undoubtedly,  aban- 
doned females,  who,  from  the  earliest  ages,  now  to  an  alarming  extent, 
walk  the  streets  and  frequent  beer-gardens  and  drink-shops,  have  a  very 
large  share  in  the  corruption  of  both  sexes.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
mass  of  prostitution  which  exists  has  arisen  at  first  from  drunkenness  in 
the  females  themselves,  but  from  drunkenness  and  other  bad  habits  on 
the  part  of  parents,  who  neglect  to  exercise  proper  care  in  the  training 
and  education  of  their  children,  who,  by  such  neglect,  are  exposed  to 
the  great  temptations  of  this  metropolis,  and  these,  by  drunkenness  and 
hopelessness,  are  confirmed  in  the  vice." 

"  Mr.  Broughton,  Magistrate  of  Worship,  street  police,  London,  Eng- 
land, in  an  examination  before  a  committee  of  Parliament,  testified  :  '  I 
have  seen  the  dreadful  effects  where  the  mother  takes  to  drinking.  If 
the  father  takes  to  drinking,  it  is  more  likely  to  be  at  night  ;  at  all  events, 
he  is  at  work  in  the  day.  But  when  the  mother  takes  to  drinking,  she 
drinks  in  the  day,  and  the  children  are  left  to  beat  about  among  the  low 
beer-shops,  and  if  the  girls  are  good-looking  and  smart  they  are  picked 


History  of  Prostitution,  544. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  131 

up  and  become  prostitutes,  and  the  boys  are  picked  up  by  thieves  and 
instructed  as  young  thieves.  I  will  mention  a  case  to  show  how  it 
operates.  A  very  decent  man,  a  mechanic,  waited  upon  me  to  ask  my 
advice  as  to  what  he  should  do.  He  said,  "  I  have  two  daughters  ;  one  is 
not  quite  sixteen,  and  the  other  is  fourteen  years  of  age.  My  wife  has 
taken  to  the  habit  of  drinking,  and  all  my  Sunday  clothes,  my  tools, 
and  everything  she  can  get  hold  of  goes  to  the  pawn-shop.  I  have  re- 
deemed them  a  hundred  times.  What  am  I  to  do  ?  My  home  is  sur- 
rounded by  beer-shops.  I  am  obliged  to  go  to  my  work  or  my  family 
would  starve,  and  here  my  daughters  are  left  wholly  unprotected."  I 
gave  him  the  best  advice  I  could,  and  he  went  away.  He  returned  to 
me  a  day  or  two  afterward  with  those  two  daughters  ;  led  them  into  the 
office,  and  addressing  me  on  the  bench,  said  :  "  What  am  I  to  do,  your 
worship  ?  At  this  moment  the  mother  of  these  two  children  is  lying  on 
the  bed  beastly  drunk."  The  consequence  to  these  girls  was  inevitable. 
Nothing  but  America  could  rescue  them  from  becoming  prostitutes.' 

"  Gentlemen,  I  can  see  that  you  draw  back  with  horror  as  the  reality 
of  this  traffic  is  revealed.  Did  not  the  necessities  of  the  case  demand, 
I  would  not  ask  you  to  pursue  this  painful  subject.  But  the  love  of 
wife,  mother,  and  daughter,  and  the  solicitude  for  their  safety  caused 
by  that  love,  I  am  sure  will  nerve  you  to  the  task  of  listening  while  I  call 
witnesses  to  make  the  damnable  results  of  the  beer  traffic  still  more 
apparent.  Gentlemen,  can  you  imagine  a  father  so  lost  to  all  manhood 
and  decency  as  to  sell  the  virtue  of  his  own  daughter  ?  Listen  to  this 
English  evidence. 

"  Mr.  Paynder,  before  a  committee  of  Parliament,  testified  :  '  The  ruin 
of  multitudes  of  females  for  life  takes  place  at  so  early  an  age  as  is 
perfectly  shocking  to  humanity.  In  most  of  such  cases  I  have  found  the 
parents  to  be  the  tempters  and  destroyers  of  their  own  children  ;  in- 
deed, it  is  almost  impossible  that  without  their  connivance  and  consent 
their  children  could  become  abandoned  and  depraved  at  so  early  an 
age  ;  and  there  is  little  hope  of  effecting  an  alteration  in  this  lamentable 


132  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.   FINCH. 

• 

vice  so  long  as  parents  are  rendered  insensible  to  their  children's  in- 
terests by  their  own  addiction  to  drinking.' 

"  The  prison  reports  of  England  offer  many  instances  in  which  girls 
tinder  twelve  and  thirteen  years  of  age  have  been  forced  into  the  streets 
in  order  to  supply  a  brutalized  parent  with  drink.* 

"  Mrs.  Kobson,  the  matron  of  the  Newcastle,  England,  penitentiary, 
says  :  '  Prostitution  greatly  proceeds  from  the  bad  example  of  parents 
arising  from  their  intemperance,  causing  them  to  neglect  both  the  educa- 
tion and  comfort  of  their  families,  leaving  them  the  sport  of  every  evil 
influence.  An  illustration  out  of  the  many  might  be  given  :  M.  J., 
fourteen  years  of  age,  was  in  this  asylum.  When  she  was  brought  here 
she  was  much  bruised  about  the  body  by  the  ill-treatment  of  her  mother, 
who  was  a  cruel,  drunken  woman,  who  used  to  send  her  daughter  into 
the  street  every  Saturday,  stating  she  must  not  return  with  less  than  five 
shillings.  She  did  not  care  how  she  got  it,  whether  by  theft  or  prosti- 
tution. ' 

"  I  am  aware,  gentlemen,  that  the  advocates  of  beer  will  claim  that 
this  debauchery  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  one  kind  of  liquor.  But  I 
maintain  that  the  beer-saloon  and  garden,  by  destroying  home  life,  re- 
move the  children  from  home  influences  and  prevent  their  moral  devel- 
opment. The  facts  sustain  the  position.  The  following  table  of  nation- 
ality of  inmates  is  taken  from  the  annual  report  of  the  Wisconsin  reform 
school  for  1878  : 

American 27 

German 51 

Irish 26 

English , .  .18 

Canadian    3 

French 6 

Scotch..  .  2 


*  Worsley's  Essay  on  Juvenile  Depravity. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  133 

Indian 1 

Bohemian 6 

Belgian 1 

Danish 1 

Norwegian 5 

Welsh 1 

Colored 3 

"  It  will  be  observed  that  beer-drinking  nationalities  figure  most  con- 
spicuously in  the  list.  This  difference  is  more  apparent  when  it  is 
known  they  constitute  a  minority  of  the  population  of  Wisconsin.  That 
a  minority  of  the  population  furnish  a  majority  of  the  vicious  children 
is  a  significant  fact. 

"  In  order  to  understand  more  fully  the  cause  of  the  degrading  influ- 
ence of  the  beer-saloon  and  garden,  let  us  now  examine  closely  the 
nature  of  the  institution  itself.  Dr.  Sanger,  the  best  American  author- 
ity, says  of  these  institutions  in  New  York  City  :  '  These  beer-houses  are 
generally  kept  by  Germans,  who  consider  dancing  a  proper  and  legiti- 
mate business.  They  are  in  general  very  quiet.  The  girls  employed  to 
dance  do  not  consider  themselves  prostitutes,  because  the  proprietors 
will  not  allow  them  to  be  known  as  such.  Each  girl  receives  monthly 
from  five  to  six  dollars  and  her  board,  and  almost  every  one  of  them 
hires  a  room  in  the  neighborhood  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution.  I 
have  classed  them  all  as  prostitutes,  because,  in  addition  to  the  previous 
fact,  I  know  that  a  majority  of  them  have  lived  as  such.  Very  few  of 
these  girls  are  excessive  drinkers.  Although  the  regulations  of  the  ball- 
room require  them  to  drink  after  each  dance  with  their  partners,  yet  the 
proprietor  has  always  a  bottle  of  water,  slightly  colored  with  port 
wine,  from  which  they  drink,  and  he  charges  the  same  price  as  for 
liquor. 

"  '  The  Society  for  the  Protection  of  the  Friendless  in  England  in- 
forms  us  that  in  England  and  Wales  there  are  2123  public  houses  and 
2034  beer- shops  used  as  brothels.  In  Newcastle-on-Tyne  there  are 


134  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

29  beer-shops  where  rooms  are  kept  for  33  women  of  loose  char- 
acter.' 

"  Mr.  Wayland,  in  testifying  before  a  committee  of  Parliament,  says  : 
'  One  woman  who  has  kept  twenty-six  bad  houses  told  me  that  if  the 
beer-shops  were  closed  early  she  would  have  to  close  some  of  her 
houses.  The  women  that  I  have  placed  in  reformatory  institutions  tell 
me  that  their  best  time  is  when  men  are  excited  by  drink  ;  they  come 
out  of  drinking-places  at  eleven,  twelve,  or  one  o'clock  at  night,  and 
during  these  hours  prostitutes  have  more  command  over  the  men  than 
at  any  other  time.' 

"  Mr.  Clay,  M.P.,  makes  the  following  note  respecting  Blackburn, 
England  :  '  Several  of  these  beer  sellers  no  longer  keep  girls  in  their 
own  houses,  though,  to  avoid  the  penalty  for  so  doing,  they  multiply  the 
actual  mischief  by  establishing  auxiliary  brothels  immediately  behind 
or  adjoining  the  premises.  The  beer-sellers  furnish  these  evil  dens, 
place  a  man  or  woman  in  charge  of  them,  and  maintain  them,  in  short, 
as  a  means  of  increasing  the  sale  of  liquor.' 

"  Mr.  Logan,  author  of  '  The  Moral  Statistics  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,' 
says  :  '  I  have  stated  one  fourth  of  these  girls  have  been  servants  in  inns 
and  beer-shops,  where  they  were  seduced  by  persons  frequenting  those 
places.  Often  have  the  poor  girls  said  to  me,  while  tears  trickled  down 
their  pallid  cheeks,  "  Ah,  sir,  we  could  never  go  into  our  miserable 
course  were  it  not  for  intoxicating  liquors  !  It  is  the  last  thing  at  night 
and  the  first  thing  in  the  morning."  ' 

"  W.  \V.  Gunnison,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  wrote  of  the  beer-shops  in  that 
city  as  follows  :  '  Certain  practices,  resorted  to  in  beer-saloons,  must  be 
mentioned  in  order  to  show  what  demoralizing  agencies  are  added  to 
those  already  existing  in  them — viz.,  the  keeping  of  prostitutes.  From 
official  authority  I  have  received  statements  which  leave  no  doubt  of  the 
extent  to  which  this  profligate  system  is  carried  on — eighteen  saloons  in 
one  ward  harboring  or  maintaining  fifty-four  prostitutes.  But  this  is  not 
the  full  extent  of  the  evil.  The  neighborhood  of  these  saloons  is  cor- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  135 

rupt.  Women— married  women— occupied  to  all  appearances  with  their 
proper  avocations  at  home,  hold  themselves  at  the  call  of  the  beer- 
saloons  for  immoral  purposes.' 

"  Judge  M.  D.  Bartlett,  of  Eau  Claire,  Wis.,  one  of  the  first  lawyers  of 
the  Northwest,  in  a  recent  conversation  said  to  me  :  '  The  only  houses 
of  prostitution  known  in  the  city  are  run  as  beer-shops.  All  other  causes 
combined  do  not  make  as  many  prostitutes  as  the  beer-saloons  and  beer- 
gardens.  Several  cases  have  come  under  my  observation  as  a  lawyer 
where  girls  have  been  stimulated  with  beer,  and  ruined  in  a  beer-garden, 
while  their  parents  were  sitting  at  a  table  in  the  same  garden,  not  sus- 
pecting the  terrible  crime  being  committed  against  the  daughters.  I 
have  come  to  regard  beer-gardens  as  gardens  for  the  propagation  of  this 
terrible  vice.' 

"  The  Chicago  Times  in  1878,  in  an  article  on  the  large  number  of 
illegitimate  births  among  the  German  and  Bohemian  population,  headed 
the  article,  '  Fruit  of  the  Beer  Picnics.' 

"  Gentlemen,  if  I  have  succeeded  in  establishing  the  character  and 
results  of  beer-selling  and  beer-drinking,  a  philosophical  mind  then 
naturally  turns  and  looks  for  the  cause  of  the  degrading  influences  of 
these  institutions  and  customs.  This  will  lead  us  into  a  physiological 
investigation  of  the  action  of  alcoholic  stimulants  upon  the  mind  of  the 
user.  The  experience  is  overwhelming  in  favor  of  the  observation  that 
the  use  of  alcoholic  stimulants  paralyzes  the  reasoning  power,  makes 
weak  men  and  women  the  easy  prey  of  the  wicked  and  strong,  and  leads 
men  and  women,  who  should  know  better,  into  every  grade  of  misery 
and  vice.  It  is  not  poor,  repenting  Cassio  alone  who  cries  out  in  agony 
of  despair,  '  Oh,  that  a  man  should  put  an  enemy  in  his  mouth  to  steal 
away  his  brains  ! '  It  is  thousands  upon  thousands  of  Cassios  who  say 
the  same  thought,  if  not  the  same  words,  every  day,  every  hour.  I 
doubt,  indeed,  whether  there  is  a  single  man  or  woman  who  indulges, 
or  wbo  has  indulged  in  alcohol,  who  could  not  truthfully  say  the  same  ; 
who  could  not  wish  that  something  he  had  unreasonably  said  or  ex- 


136  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

pressed,  under  the  excitement  from  alcohol,  had  not  been  given  forth. 
If,  then,  alcohol  enfeebles  the  reason,  what  part  of  the  mental  constitu- 
tion does  it  exalt  ?  It  exalts  and  excites  those  animal,  organic,  and 
emotional  centres  of  the  niind,  which,  in  the  dual  nature  of  man,  so 
often  cross  and  oppose  that  pure  and  abstract  reasoning  of  nature  which 
lifts  man  above  the  lower  animals,  and,  rightly  exercised,  to  a  plane 
little  lower  than  the  angels.  Exciting  these  animal  centres,  it  lets  loose 
all  the  passions,  and  gives  them  more  or  less  unlicensed  domination 
over  the  whole  man.  And  if  I  were  to  take  you  through  all  the  passions 
that  remain  to  be  named — lust,  hate,  envy,  avarice,  and  pride — I  should 
but  show  you  that  alcohol  ministers  to  them  all  ;  that,  paralyzing  the 
reason,  it  takes  from  off  these  passions  that  fine  adjustment  which  places 
man  above  the  lower  animals.  The  demonstrative  evidence  of  alcohol 
in  its  influence  on  the  mind  is,  then,  most  clear.  From  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  its  influence,  it  subdues  reason  and  sets  free  passion.  The 
analogies,  physical  and  mental,  are  perfect.  That  which  loosens  the 
tension  of  the  vessels  which  feed  the  body  with  due  order  of  precision, 
and  thereby  lets  loose  the  heart  to  violent  excess  of  unbridled  emotion, 
loosens  also  the  reason,  and  lets  loose  the  passions.  In  both  instances 
the  heart  and  head  are  for  a  time  out  of  harmony — their  balance  broken. 
The  man  descends  closer  and  closer  to  the  brute  ;  from  the  angels  he 
glides  farther  and  farther  away.* 

' '  What  better  agent  could  a  villain  have  to  prepare  for  him  and  assist 
him  in  his  work  ?  Certainly  not  a  property  or  effect  is  wanting  to  make 
it  the  devil's  agent  to  ruin  the  young,  fair,  and  virtuous  of  our  land. 
But  it  must  be  remembered  that  a  majority  of  the  young  girls  whose 
ruin  is  attempted  have  never  used  alcoholic  liquors,  and  it  would  be 
useless  to  attempt  to  induce  them  to  drink  whiskey  or  ardent  spirits. 
'  Cool  lager,'  '  creamy  ale,'  and  wine  —which  contain  the  alcoholic  spirit 
in  diluted  form — are  the  kinds  of  liquors  especially  fitted  for  this  use. 


*  Alcohol  on  Body  and  Mind — Eichardson. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  137 

The  amount  of  alcohol  contained  is  amply  sufficient :  lager  beer  con- 
tains from  4.1  to  6.65  per  cent  by  volume,  and  5.05  to  8.15  per  cent  by 
weight  ;  ale  contains  from  4.68  to  9.05  per  cent  by  weight.  In  these 
lesser  alcoholics  the  alcohol  is  so  completely  concealed  by  the  other 
compounds  of  the  liquor  that  the  victim  drinks  it  unconsciously,  and 
while  under  its  influence  is  ruined. 

' ' '  When  a  woman  drinks  she  is  lost. '  It  will  be  conceded  that  the 
habit  of  intoxication  in  woman  is  not  an  indication  of  the  existence  of 
actual  depravity  or  vice,  but  is  a  sure  precursor  of  it,  for  drunkenness 
and  debauchery  are  inseparable  companions — one  almost  invariably  fol- 
lowing the  other.  In  some  cases  a  woman  living  in  service  becomes  a 
drunkard  ;  she  forms  acquaintances  among  the  depraved  of  her  own  sex, 
and  willingly  joins  their  ranks.  Married  women  acquire  the  habits  of 
drinking,  and  forsake  their  husbands  and  families,  to  gratify  not  so 
much  their  sexual  appetite  as  their  passion  for  liquor.  Young  women 
are  often  persuaded  to  take  one  or  two  glasses  of  liquor,  and  then  their 
ruin  may  be  soon  expected.  Others  are  induced  to  drink  liquor  into 
which  a  narcotic  has  been  infused,  to  render  them  insensible  to  their 
ruin.  In  short,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  enumerate  the  many  tempta- 
tions which  can  be  employed  when  intoxicating  drinks  are  used  as  an 
agent.* 

' '  One  of  the  most  common  methods  of  seduction,  employed  by  liber- 
tines of  cities  and  larger  towns,  is  to  invite  the  victim  to  a  supper  at  a 
restaurant,  or  in  other  words  a  low  brothel  ;  where,  by  sneers  or  persua- 
sions, she  is  frightened  or  induced  into  drinking.  The  Chicago  Inter- 
Ocean,  in  its  issue  of  July  1st,  1878,  on  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Mamie  Ste- 
vens, in  that  city,  by  her  husband,  refers  to  this  practice  in  the  follow- 
ing ringing  words  :  '  There  is  another  class,  for  which  decent  humanity 
can  have  nothing  but  the  deepest  contempt.  Nothing  like  honor  or 
sentiment  is  connected  with  them.  All  is  low,  grovelling,  and  brutish. 


*  History  of  Prostitution,  497. 


138  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

The  human  hyena,  known  as  the  "  masher,"  prominent  at  matinees  and 
particularly  observable  in  front  of  saloons,  is  a  beast  well  known  in 
Chicago.  He  watches  for  a  word,  a  look,  or  the  slightest  intimation  that 
his  presence  will  be  tolerated  by  a  decently  dressed  woman.  If  he  can 
gain  the  acquaintance  of  some  outwardly  respectable  married  woman, 
and  then,  when  the  latter  is  accompanied  by  a  really  innocent  female 
companion,  present  himself  and  make  the  second  acquaintance,  he  is 
overjoyed.  He  will  spend  his  time  from  that  hour  in  an  effort  to  entrap 
the  inexperienced  one  ;  and  it  shall  go  ill  with  him  indeed  if,  sooner  or 
later,  he  does  not  succeed.  Many  a  young  woman,  really  innocent  of 
any  intent  to  do  wrong,  but  foolishly  nattered,  has  been  enticed  into 
one  of  a  thousand  places  in  Chicago,  dignified  by  the  name  of  restau- 
rant, and  there,  fearful  of  the  disgrace  of  an  outcry,  practically  com- 
pelled to  suffer  insult  and  wrong  at  the  hands  of  a  two-legged  brute, 
who  deserves  to  be  shot  in  his  tracks.  Hundreds  of  women  and  girls  in 
humble  life,  to  whom  a  wine  dinner  in  a  restaurant  was  a  novelty  to  be 
wondered  at  and  coveted,  have  a  reason  to  curse  the  day  and  the  hour 
when  their  curiosity  and  indiscretion  led  them  to  accept  such  attentions 
from  the  scoundrels  who  have  led  them  to  ruin.  The  proprietors  of 
these  beer  and  wine  restaurants  are  nearly  all  accomplices  of  these  devils 
in  human  form.' 

"I  don't  wish  to  assert,  gentlemen,  that  every  woman  who  drinks 
wine  and  beer  will  lose  her  virtue,  but  I  do  wish  to  assert  that  no  woman 
under  the  influence  of  wine  and  beer  can  resist  the  advances  of  the 
brute  who  seeks  her  ruin.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  every  author  who 
has  ever  investigated  or  written  upon  the  social  evil. 

"  The  evidence  already  offered  points  to  the  inevitable  result  of  beer- 
drinking  and  beer-selling—debauchery  in  public  and  private  life  in  this 
country.  Such  has  been  the  result  in  Germany.  A  celebrated  German 
author,  by  the  name  of  Sass,  in  a  work  entitled  '  Berlin, '  says  of  public 
life  in  that  city  : 

"  '  No  city  in  Germany  can  boast  the  splendid  ball-rooms  of  Berlin. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  139 

One  in  particular,  near  the  Brandenburgh  gate  and  the  parade  ground, 
is  remarkable  for  its  size,  and  presents  a  magnificent  exterior  when  hun- 
dreds of  lamps  stream  through  the  windows,  and  light  up  the  park  in 
front.  The  interior  is  of  corresponding  splendor,  and  when  the  vast 
hall  resounds  with  the  music  of  the  grand  orchestra,  and  is  filled  with  a 
gay  crowd,  rustling  in  silks  or  satins,  or  lounging  in  the  hall,  or  whirl- 
ing in  the  giddy  waltz,  it  is  certainly  a  scene  to  intoxicate  the  youth 
who  frequent  it  in  search  of  adventure  or  to  drink  in  the  poison  of 
seductive  and  deceiving,  although  bright  and  fascinating,  eyes.  Should 
the  foreigner  visit  this  scene  on  one  of  its  gay  nights,  he  may  get  a 
glimpse  at  the  depth  of  Berlin  life.  Many  a  veil  is  lifted  here.  This 
splendid  scene  has  its  dark  side.  This  whirling,  laughing  crowd  is  friv- 
olous Berlin,  whether  of  wealth,  extravagance,  and  folly,  or  of  poverty, 
vice,  and  necessity.  The  prostitute  and  swindler  are  on  every  side. 
Formerly  the  female  visitors  were  of  good  repute,  but  gradually  courte- 
sans and  women  of  light  character  slipped  in,  until  at  length  no  lady 
could  be  seen  there.  And  the  aforesaid  foreigner,  who  lounges  throxigh 
the  rooms,  admiring  the  elegant  and  lovely  women  who  surround  him, 
in  charge  of  some  highly  respectable  elderly  person — an  aunt,  or  a  chap- 
erone,  or  possibly  in  company  with  her  newly-married  husband — seeks 
to  know  the  name  of  such  evident  celebrity  and  fashion.  "  Do  you  not 
know  her  ?  Any  police  officer  can  tell  you  her  history.' '  There  is  a 
class  of  men  at  this  place  who  perform  a  function  singular  to  the  unin- 
itiated. These  worthies  are  the  "  husbands"  of  the  before-mentioned 
ladies.  They  play  the  careless  or  strict  cavalier  ;  are  Bluebeards  on 
occasion  ;  appear,  or  keep  out  of  sight,  according  to  the  necessities  of 
the  moment.' 

"  The  same  author  gives  the  following  horrid  picture  of  private  life 
in  the  same  city  :  '  Let  us  enter  the  house.  The  first  floor  is  inhabited 
by  a  family  of  distinction  ;  husband  and  wife  have  been  separated  for 
years  ;  he  lives  on  one  side,  she  on  the  other  ;  both  go  out  in  public 
together  ;  the  proprieties  are  kept  in  view,  but  servants  will  chatter. 


140  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

On  the  second  floor  lives  an  assessor,  with  his  kept  woman.  When  he 
is  out  of  town,  as  the  house  is  well  aware,  a  doctor  pays  her  a  visit.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  staircase  lives  a  carrier,  with  his  wife  and  child. 
The  wife  had  not  mentioned  that  this  child  was  born  before  marriage  ; 
he  found  it  out ;  of  course  they  quarrelled,  and  he  now  takes  his  revenge 
in  drunkenness,  blows,  and  abuse.  We  ascend  to  the  third  floor  :  on 
the  right  side  of  the  stairs  is  a  teacher,  who  has  had  a  child  by  his  wife's 
sister  ;  the  wife  grieves  sorely  over  the  same.  With  him  lodges  a  house 
painter,  who  ran  away  from  his  wife  and  three  children,  and  now  lives 
with  his  concubine  and  one  child  in  a  wretched  little  cupboard.  On 
the  left  is  a  letter-carrier's  family.  His  pay  is  fifteen  thalers  a  month, 
but  the  people  seem  very  comfortable.  Their  daughter  has  a  nice  front 
room,  well  furnished,  and  is  kept  by  a  very  wealthy  merchant — a  mar- 
ried man.  Exactly  opposite  there  is  a  house  of  accommodation,  and 
close  by  there  is  a  midwife,  whose  signboard  announces,  "  An  institute 
for  ladies  of  condition,  where  they  can  go  through  their  confinement  in 
retirement."  I  can  assure  the  reader  that  in  this  sketch  of  sexual  and 
family  life  in  Berlin  I  have  nothing  extenuated  nor  set  down  aught  in 
malice.' 

"  Germany,  in  1851,  passed  laws  permitting  and  licensing  prostitu- 
tion ;  and  I  submit  for  your  examination  this  damnable  code,  which  is 
too  long  for  me  to  read.  Such  is  the  result  of  the  beer  customs. 

"  Gentlemen,  that  is  my  case  against  the  beer  traffic.  Take  it,  and  as 
a  jury  bound  by  the  most  sacred  obligations — your  honor — the  trust  of 
your  constituents — pass  upon  the  evidence  and  arguments  presented. 
In  the  examination  of  the  evidence,  you  will,  of  course,  apply  the  ordi- 
nary rules  of  the  courts.  Hearsay  and  mere  assertion  are  entitled  to  no 
standing.  Facts  and  figures,  presented  by  witnesses  who  speak  of  their 
own  knowledge,  must  settle  the  question.  I  have  not  introduced  before 
you  a  witness  not  competent  in  a  court  of  justice.  They  are  competent 
witnesses,  and  when  compared  with  the  utter  absence  of  witnesses  on 
the  other  side,  their  calm,  dispassionate  testimony,  based  on  their  own 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  141 

observation  and  experience,  must  outweigh  the  reckless,  bombastic,  and 
wholly  unsupported  statements  of  the  beer  advocates. 

' '  The  temperance  men  indict  the  old  criminal  trade  ;  the  drunkard- 
makers  endeavor  to  bribe  the  legislative*  grand  jury,*  hoping  thereby  to 
prevent  the  submitting  of  the  indictment  to  the  petit  jury — the  people. 
"  Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  evidence  in  the  case,  and  such,  I  am  sure, 
will  be  your  finding.  The  evidence  in  regard  to  the  three  other  counts 
is  not  contradicted,  and  no  evidence  is  brought  to  explain  or  extenuate. 
The  evidence  is  all  one  way  :  The  beer  traffic  is  guilty  of  all  the  counts 
in  the  indictment,  and,  gentlemen,  I  have  no  doubt  in  regard  to  the 
character  of  your  verdict. 

"  When  you  shall  have  settled  so  much  of  the  question,  your  further 
action  will,  of  course,  be  in  accord  with  your  finding.  To  you,  then, 
we  submit  our  indictment,  and  oppose  their  demands  ;  to  our  evidence, 
they  only  answer  with  blackguardism  and  unsupported  assertions.  We 
have  established  our  case  by  proofs  uncontradicted  and  undeniable,  and 
we  ask  you,  citizen  representatives,  by  virtue  of  the  power  vested  in 
you,  to  stay  this  foul  curse.  Prayers,  tears,  and  persuasion  have  been 
tried  ;  but  the  lecherous,  licentious,  shameless  traffic  still  pursues  the 
youth,  beauty,  and  virtue  of  the  land. 

"  Richelieu,  the  French  cardinal,  whose  niece  was  pursued  by  like 
bold  and  shameless  enemies,  after  trying  all  other  remedies,  plucked 
from  his  vest  a  cross,  and,  drawing  the  circle  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
around  her,  hurled  in  their  faces  the  defiance  : 
"  Mark  where  she  stands  ! 

Around  her  form  I  draw  the  awful  circle  of  our  solemn  church  ; 

Step  but  a  foot  within  that  holy  ground, 

And  on  thy  head— yea,  though  it  wore  a  crown— 

I  launch  the  curse  of  Rome  ! 

"  Gentlemen,  all  other  remedies  have  failed.  We  ask  you  to  draw  the 
protecting  circle  of  law  around  the  loved  ones  and  the  homes  of  this 
land,  and  thereby  say  to  this  '  black  death,'  '  Thou  shalt  not  cross  these 
thresholds.'  " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

JOINT   DEBATES. 

Whatever  sceptic  could  inquire  for, 
For  every  why  he  had  a  wherefore. 

Butler. 

~\  /T~R.  FINCH  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  all  the 
-*-'-•-  qualifications  necessary  for  a  successful  debater.  He 
was  master  of  his  subject.  Not  only  did  he  read  everything 
in  the  range  of  temperance  literature,  books,  pamphlets, 
leaflets,  and  periodicals,  but  the  general  newspaper  press 
was  laid  under  contribution  to  furnish  facts  for  his  use. 
Nothing  directly  or  indirectly  related  to  the  question 
escaped  his  notice.  A  friend  would  sometimes  ask  him  if 
he  had  seen  a  certain  item  or  comment  hidden  away  in  an 
obscure  corner  of  some  daily  newspaper.  Almost  invari- 
ably he  proved,  by  a  recital  of  the  facts,  that  he  had  not 
only  read  the  matter  in  question,  but  had  obtained  fuller 
information  concerning  it  than  had  his  questioner. 

It  was  a  source  of  constant  wonder  to  his  friends  when, 
where,  and  how  he  so  carefully  perused  the  daily  papers. 
At  the  hotels  which  were  made  headquarters  when  State  or 
national  gatherings  of  temperance  people  convened,  they 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN'  B.   FINCH.  .  143 

would  find  him,  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  in  the 
parlors  conversing  or  waiting  to  accompany  them  to  break- 
fast. On  the  way  to  the  dining-room  they  would  purchase 
morning  papers,  glancing  at  them  when  seated  at  the  table 
waiting  for  their  orders  to  be  filled.  One  friend  would 
perhaps  look  up  from  his  Tribune,  saying  : 

"  Finch,  the  Tribune  claims  that  the  entire  Democracy 
is  in  favor  of  free  trade." 

"  Oh,  no,1"  Mr.  Finch  would  reply  ;  "  you  have  not  read 
the  whole  of  that  editorial.  You  will  notice  that  several 
Congressional  districts  are  especially  exempted  from  that 
sweeping  assertion." 

The  reader  would  turn  back  to  his  paper  and  find  that 
Mr.  Finch  was  right. 

Another  friend,  throwing  down  his  Times,  might  ex- 
claim : 

"  These  whiskey  dailies  are  contemptible.  The  Times 
calls  our  convention  a  '  Gathering  of  Geese. '  ' 

"  Oh,  well,  never  rnind,"  Mr.  Finch  would  say  with  a 
laugh  ;  "  if  you  will  read  on,  you  will  find  in  the  same  col- 
umn some  very  complimentary  references  to  the  men  and 
women  who  compose  it." 

"  The  Herald  is  a  little  meaner  to  us  than  ever,"  de- 
clares a  third  member  of  the  breakfast  party.  "  It  attacks 
Neal  Dow  this  morning." 

"  Oh,  no,  it  does  not,"  answers  Mr.  Finch. 

"  Yes,  it  does.     I  have  just  read  it,"  persists  the  other. 


144  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  You  mistake.  Read  again.  The  Herald  defends  Mr. 
Dow  tins  time." 

The  offensive  words  prove  to  be  a  quotation,  and  the 
editorial  entirely  different  in  its  tone  from  what  the  reader 
of  the  Herald  had  supposed. 

Before  his  friends  had  left  their  rooms  Mr.  Finch  had 
evidently  read  carefully  and  extensively  in  all  the  leading 
dailies  published  in  the  city.  Such  occurrences  were  so 
frequent  that  no  doubt  hundreds  of  men  who  knew  Mr. 
Finch  intimately  will  recall  similar  scenes. 

This  wonderful  faculty  for  rapid  absorption  of  current 
facts  gave  him  great  advantage  in  discussion. 

Another  very  valuable  qualification  was  his  quick  percep- 
tion of  his  adversary's  position  and  the  strong  and  weak 
points  of  the  defence.  Sophistry  could  not  blind  him,  no 
matter  how  consummately  it  was  woven,  and  falsehood 
rarely  deceived  him. 

But  his  greatest  power  as  a  debater  lay  in  the  celerity 
with  which  he  cpuld  formulate  his  attack  and  defence 
while  the  discussion  was  in  progress.  He  possessed  a 
vast  fund  of  information,  which  was  so  systematically 
arranged  in  his  mind  that  he  could  recall,  almost  without 
effort,  the  facts  most  cogent  in  their  bearing  upon  the 
questions  at  issue,  and  fit  them  so  nicely  into  his  chain  of 
reasoning,  that  they  appeared  to  have  been  wrought  and 
forged  and  welded  weeks  before  in  the  workshop  of  his 
brain. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  145 

The  Marbleliead  (Massachusetts)  Messenger  describes  his 
peculiar  gifts  : 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  a  rare  combination  of  sweetness  and  strength. 
Not  so  much  an  orator  as  a  logician,  he  combined  the  power  of  convinc- 
ing men's  judgment  and  winning  their  sympathy  all  at  once.  His  lumi 
nous  smile  melted  opposition.  His  withering  scorn  tore  away  sophistry. 
His  keen  analysis  revealed  fact  and  annihilated  humbug  and  falsehood. 
He  did  not  depend  so  much  on  stirring  the  emotions  as  upon  gaining 
his  hearers'  assent,  and  then  leading  them  on  step  by  step  to  the  serene 
heights  of  truth  and  duty." 

Our  Field,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  said  : 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  of  this  day  ;  as  an 
orator  we  have  never  heard  his  equal  ;  clear,  logical,  convincing,  he 
defied  successful  contradiction.  His  head  was  the  storehouse  of  facts, 
figures,  and  arguments  innumerable.  He  was  a  most  indefatigable 
worker." 

Hon.  Samuel  D.  Hastings,  ex- State  Treasurer  of  Wis- 
consin, attests  his  singular  strength  and  power  as  a  debater  : 

"  A  great  orator  is  one  who,  in  the  use  of  elevated  and  forcible 
thought,  well-chosen  language,  easy  and  effective  utterance,  and  impas- 
sioned manner,  interests  his  hearers  and  influences  their  action.  John 
B.  Finch  was  pre-eminently  such  an  orator.  As  a  debater  he  had  few 
equals.  He  was  thoroughly  equipped  at  all  points.  He  never  allowed 
himself  to  be  taken  unawares.  Although  not  an  expert  anatomist  or 
physiologist,  he  had  made  himself  sufficiently  master  of  anatomy,  physi- 
ology, and  hygiene  to  be  able  to  meet  and  successfully  answer  the  argu- 
ments of  those  who  claimed  that  alcohol  is,  in  any  true  sense,  a  food  or 
is  ever  beneficial  to  man  in  health.  Although  not  a  lawyer  of  extensive 
practice,  he  was  sufficiently  read  in  the  standard  legal  works  of  the  ablest 


V 

146  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

writers  on  legal  jurisprudence  to  be  able  to  meet  and  overthrow  the 
arguments  of  the  ablest  lawyers  and  the  most  learned  judges  who  op- 
posed prohibition  on  legal  or  constitutional  grounds.  Although  not  a 
professed  theologian,  he  was  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  great  facts 
of  the  Bible  and  with  the  great  principles  of  Christianity  to  make  it 
hazardous  for  any  bishop,  doctor  of  divinity,  or  lesser  light,  however 
learned  he  might  be,  to  attempt  to  array  the  facts  of  the  Bible  or  the 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion  against  the  temperance  reform. 

"Although  he  had  never  occupied  high  civil  positions,  no  one  was 
more  familiar  with  our  country's  history,  no  one  more  fully  understood 
the  great  problems  that  are  now  agitating  the  public  mind  and  had 
clearer  views  as  to  how  these  problems  should  be  solved,  and  no  one 
could  present  in  a  clearer,  stronger  light  than  he  the  advantages  that 
would  result  to  the  entire  nation  from  the  overthrow  of  the  liquor  traffic. 

"  There  was  no  one  in  all  the  land,  however  distinguished  as  a  physi- 
cian, however  learned  as  a  lawyer  or  a  judge,  however  celebrated  as  a 
bishop  or  a  doctor  of  divinity,  however  high  in  official  position,  or  emi- 
nent as  a  statesman  that  Mr.  Finch  was  not  able  and  willing  to  meet  in 
the  discussion  of  any  question  connected  with  any  phase  of  the  temper- 
ance reform. 

"  If  the  principles  of  the  reform  or  the  right  and  duty  of  prohibition 
were  attacked  by  any  one  whose  position  or  talents  rendered  the  attack 
liable  to  prove  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  onward  progress  of  the 
cause,  John  B.  Finch  was  the  one  to  whom  almost  every  one  looked  to 
meet  the  attack,  and  they  never  looked  in  vain— he  always  responded 
and  always  proved  himself  equal  to  the  emergency." 

The  Prohibitionists  of  Nebraska  were  not  slow  to  recog- 
nize his  ability  to  meet  and  vanquish  foes  of  the  reform  in 
public  discussion.  For  a  long  time  they  looked  in  vain  for 
a  prominent  antagonist  who  would  meet  Mr.  Finch  and 
debate  the  question  of  "  Prohibition  versus  License." 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  147 

A  joint  debate  was  at  length  arranged  to  take  place  at 
the  Opera  House  in  Lincoln,  January  23d,  1879.  George 
L.  Miller,  editor  of  the  Omaha  Herald^  appeared  in  de- 
fence of  the  license  system.  Unlike  many  of  the  men  who 
publicly  espouse  that  side  of  the  question,  Mr.  Miller  was 
an  educated  gentleman,  who  was  disposed  to  meet  Mr.  Finch 
in  the  arena  of  discussion  in  a  spirit  of  fairness  and  tolera- 
tion. When  the  debate  closed  the  friends  of  prohibition 
were  jubilant,  and  determined  to  arrange  as  many  as  possible 
of  similar  contests.  This  debate  occurred  during  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature,  and  was  largely  attended  by  mem- 
bers, as  were  several  meetings  addressed  by  Mr.  Finch  on 
the  evenings  following.  It  was  hoped  that  these  clear, 
convincing,  and  statesmanlike  expositions  of  the  functions 
and  duty  of  government  would  influence  legislators  to  adopt 
a  prohibitory  law  or  submit  a  prohibitory  amendment. 
But,  as  is  too  frequently  the  case,  fear  of  "  hurting  the 
PARTY  "  was  a  more  potential  influence  than  the  convictions 
of  conscience,  and  every  temperance  measure  introduced  at 
that  session  of  the  Legislature  failed  to  secure  the  number 
of  votes  required  to  make  it  a  law. 

Mr.  Miller  was  not  embittered  against  .Mr.  Finch  because 
they  met  in  the  arena  of  discussion,  where  each  earnestly 
advocated  his  views.  Mr.  Miller's  estimate  of  his  character 
was  very  high,  as  the  following  letter  recently  written  by 
him  indicates  : 

"  Although  I  have  been  among  the  most  pronounced  opponents  of  the 


148  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

views  of  Mr.  Finch  upon  the  important  question  of  prohibition,  as  the 
editor  of  the  Omaha  Herald,  and  occasionally  upon  the  narrower  theatre 
of  the  public  platform,  once  only  in  joint  debate,  I  long  since  learned  to 
have  great  respect  for  his  character  as  a  man,  for  the  sincerity  and 
strength  of  his  convictions,  and  for  his  abilities  as  an  orator  of  marked 
power.  But  it  was  also  as  an  organizer  of  opinion  that  he  proved  his 
fitness  for  leadership,  and  in  this  field  of  labor  he  was  the  peer  of  any 
man  with  whom  I  am  acquainted. 

"  I  regard  the  death  of  John  B.  Finch  as  a  personal  loss.  I  had 
known  him  long  and  intimately.  His  was  a  genial  and  generous  spirit. 
I  had  predicted  for  him  a  brilliant  career  long  before  he  achieved  it." 

The  next  joint  discussion  occurred  in  Omaha.  Hon.  I. 
S.  Hascall,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  that  city,  appeared  in 
defence  of  license  and  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Finch.  Mr. 
Hascall  was  considered  a  strong  antagonist,  and  the  liquor 
men  expected  he  would  win.  Their  confidence  was  mis- 
placed ;  their  advocate  could  not  cope  with  Mr.  Finch's 
clear  reasoning  and  invincible  logic. 

The  sympathies  of  the  entire  city  press  were  with  Mr. 
Hascall,  but  the  newspapers  were  forced  to  admit  that  the 
license  cause  was  badly  defeated  in  the  contest. 

At  the  great  Bismarck  Grove  prohibition  camp-meeting 
in  Kansas,  while  the  amendment  was  pending,  Mr.  Finch 
made  several  addresses  to  large  audiences. 

Ex-Governor  Robinson,  who  had  been  writing  and  speak- 
ing against  the  adoption  of  the  amendment,  from  the  date 
of  its  submission,  had  expressed  a  desire  to  make  one  speech 
at  the  camp-meeting.  The  managers  consented,  and  he 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  149 

selected  Sunday  afternoon  at  two  o'clock,  an  hour  when 
the  vast  auditorium  was  certain  to  be  filled,  as  the  hour  for 
his  anti- prohibition  address.  This  point  was  also  conceded, 
with  the  understanding  that  after  he  had  finished  the  man- 
agers would  call  out  a  prohibition  speaker  to  answer  him. 

The  day  came  with  bright  sunshine  and  a  gentle  breeze 
— a  perfect  summer  day.  From  the  city  of  Lawrence  and 
from  all  the  surrounding  country,  people  came  to  the  Grove 
by  thousands.  Governor  Robinson  was  visibly  nervous  as 
he  looked  into  the  faces  in  the  great  assemblage.  He  made 
the  same  plea  that  the  opposers  of  prohibition  continually 
raise  :  "  It  cannot  be  enforced,"  dodging  all  other  points 
at  issue. 

Mr.  Finch  replied,  analyzing  the  principles  on  which  a 
nation's  laws  must  rest  and  the  social  needs  out  of  which 
governments  rise.  Following  this  line  of  thought,  he 
proved  the  necessity  of  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  in 
order  to  secure  the  just  ends  of  government,  and  then 
argued  that  civilization  will  overcome  all  the  impediments 
to  its  onward  march,  as  it  has  already  broken  down  the 
barriers  of  barbarism  that  impeded  its  early  progress. 

The  address  was  logical,  its  conclusions  irresistible. 
Governor  Robinson,  though  not  yielding  his  position,  did 
not  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  reply  which  was 
offered  him. 

George  E.  Foster,  Minister  of  Marine  and  Fisheries  of 
the  Dominion  of  Canada,  a  gentleman  of  rare  accomplish- 


150  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

ments  as  a  writer  and  speaker,   pays  this  tribute  to  Mr. 
Finch's  genius  : 

"  I  first  heard  John  B.  Finch  at  Bismarck  Camp  Ground,  Kansas,  and 
was  at  once  taken  with  his  earnest  manliness,  his  frank  speech,  his  keen 
powers  of  debate,  and  the  variety  of  his  resources.  Since  then  I  have 
followed  with  deep  interest  his  wonderful  career,  so  consistent,  so  tri- 
umphant, and  so  phenomenal,  as  he  made  his  way  through  the  front 
ranks  of  moral  reforms  up  to  the  proud  eminence  from  which  God  called 
him. 

"  His  excellence  lay  in  the  simple  directness  with  which  he  gave  forth 
from  his  rich  reserve  of  many-sided  thought  what  was  selected  with 
rare  aptness  and  marshalled  with  still  rarer  accuracy  of  reasoning  and 
logical  skill.  He  had  a  clear  perception  of  the  true  relations  of  law  and 
suasion,  and  was  equally  skilled  in  the  discussion  of  each.  Born  with 
the  powers  of  a  leader,  his  was  the  merit  of  developing  them  with  rare 
diligence  and  supporting  them  with  a  strong  and  spotless  character. 
His  followers  could  love  as  well  as  admire  him.  His  life  here  was  full 
of  help  and  hope  ;  now  that  it  has  been  translated,  it  has  become  a 
glorified  inspiration. 

"  Farewell,  strong,  faithful,  and  true  soul." 

The  fall  campaign  of  1880  in  Nebraska  was  conducted, 
on  the  part  of  the  temperance  people,  on  the  issue  of  secur- 
ing a  Legislature  that  would  submit  a  prohibitory  amend- 
ment to  the  State  Constitution.  The  attempt  was  made 
wholly  within  old  party  lines,  no  independent  candidates 
having  been  nominated,  even  in  the  legislative  districts 
where  no  reliable  temperance  men  were  placed  on  the 
Democratic  or  Republican  tickets. 

Mr.  Finch  was  in  the  front  of  the  battle  in  these  active 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  151 

autumn  months.  He  notified  his  friends  that  he  would  be 
glad  to  meet  in  joint  discussion  any  candidate,  or  any  sup- 
porter of  a  candidate  who  opposed  submission.  Very  few 
such  opportunities  were  afforded  him. 

After  election  he  suggested  to  Dr.  S.  H.  King,  Secretary 
of  the  Prohibition  Amendment  State  Committee,  the 
wisdom  of  issuing  a  challenge  to  the  liquor  men  of  the 
State  to  furnish  a  champion  who  should  meet  some  repre- 
sentative of  the  temperance  people  in  public  discussion  of 
the  amendment  issue,  Mr.  Finch  agreeing  to  meet  any  man 
the  liquor  interest  might  select. 

The  challenge  was  issued,  and  some  time  afterward  Dr. 
King  sent  the  following  letter,  which  appeared  in  the  col- 
umns of  the  Lincoln  Daily  Globe  : 

"  Editors  Gl<>be :  Having  ascertained  that  the  men  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  drunkards,  paupers,  and  criminals  were  raising  money 
to  put  into  the  campaign  this  winter,  I  addressed  the  challenge  I  enclose 
to  them  on  December  8th,  1880.  In  the  face  of  all  the  evidence  of  past 
years,  I  preferred  to  believe  the  saloon-keepers  of  the  State  to  be  honest 
men  who  were  raising  money  to  be  used  in  an  honest  campaign  in  which 
the  beauties  of  the  license  system  and  its  works  should  be  explained  to 
the  people.  The  saloon-keepers,  brewers,  and  distillers  have  always 
called  the  temperance  men  fanatics  and  fools,  and  I  supposed  the  money 
raised  was  to  be  used  to  carry  on  a  campaign  as  respectable,  decent  men 
carry  a  campaign,  in  which  these  claimed  errors  and  blunders  of  temper- 
ance should  be  exposed.  With  these  ideas  prompting,  the  challenge 
was  issued,  the  indictment  of  the  business  and  license  system  made  in 
plain,  positive  terms,  and  the  liquor  men  invited  into  the  court  of  the 
people  to  plead.  Weeks  have  passed,  and  not  a  word  has  come  from 


152  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

their  committees,  and  now  they  come  quietly  into  Lincoln  under  an  as- 
sumed name,  an  alias,  and  hold  what  they  think  are  secret  meetings  in 
unknown  places. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  Is  this  old  criminal  traffic  here  to  try  and 
compound  a  felony  with  the  court  of  the  people  ?  The  fact  is  well 
known  that  they  have  not  raised  as  much  money  as  they  expected,  but 
what  are  they  going  to  do  with  what  they  have  raised  if  not  make  an 
honest,  intelligent,  civilized,  manly  defence  before  the  people  ?  The 
question  the  people  address  to  the  liquor  traffic  is  simply  :  '  Are  you 
guilty  or  not  guilty  of  the  horrid  crimes  for  which  you  stand  indicted  ?  ' 
The  following  is  the  indictment  they  dare  not  meet. 

"S.  H.  KING." 

CHALLENGE    TO    JOINT   DEBATE. 

"  To  the  Distillers,  Brewers,  and  Saloon- Keepers  of  Nebraska  : 

' '  The  temperance  people  of  the  State  have  fearlessly  indicted  your 
business  in  the  strongest  terms,  as  being  opposed  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  people,  morally,  socially,  politically,  and  financially,  and  are  con- 
scientiously laboring  to  overthrow  it  by  legal  prohibition,  and  thereby 
prevent  the  terrible  evils  which  flow  from  it.  The  temperance  forces 
make  no  war  against  you  as  men,  but  the  traffic  which  you  represent 
will  be  fought  as  long  as  it  raises  its  hydra  head.  This  question  must  be 
settled,  and  blackguardism,  buying  votes,  and  seeking  to  corrupt  or 
bulldoze  the  Legislature  will  not  protect  you.  Your  traffic  is  on  trial 
before  the  grandest  jury  of  a  republic — the  people — and  by  them  it  must 
be  acquitted  or  condemned.  To  give  you  a  chance  to  meet  the  damning 
charges  against  your  business,  the  temperance  force  make  the  following 
offer  •. 

' '  They  will  pay  the  expense  of  halls,  advertise  the  meetings,  and  fur- 
nish speakers  to  meet  your  speakers  for  twenty  consecutive  nights  in 
leading  cities  of  the  State— to  wit  :  Omaha,  Lincoln,  Nebraska  City, 
Plattsinonth,  Fremont,  Brownville,  Falls  City,  Pawnee  City,  Tecumseh, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  153 

Beatrice,  Crete,  Hastings,  Kearney,  Columbus,  Grand  Island,  Fairmont, 
Sutton,  York,  Aurora,  and  Ashland,  commencing  December  15th,  and 
discussing  the  following  propositions  : 

"  First.  The  traffic  in  and  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  in  this  State  pro- 
motes crime  and  pauperism  and  indolence,  political  corruption  and 
fraud  ;  necessitates  the  maintenance  of  a  large  police  force  in  cities  and 
towns,  and  the  supporting  of  jails  and  prisons  to  protect  the  lives  and 
property  of  citizens  from  its  effects  ;  produces  domestic  discord  and 
strife  ;  makes  unhappy  homes,  and  beggars  innocent  women  and  help- 
less children  ;  and  the  manufacture  and  traffic  in  these  drinks  misem- 
ploys a  large  amount  of  capital,  and  by  leeching  from  their  capital  im- 
pairs the  productive  industries  of  the  State. 

"  The  temperance  speaker  to  affirm,  the  saloon-keepers  to  deny.  If 
these  charges  are  true,  there  is  sufficient  reason  why  your  business 
should  be  stopped,  and  a  law  placed  upon,  our  statute-books  prohibiting 
it.  Hoping  you  will  improve  this  opportunity  to  come  before  the  people, 
and  meet  this  issue  in  a  manly  way,  I  am, 

"  Eespectfully, 
"  S.  H.  KING,  Secretary  Prohibition  Committee." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  challenge  was  never  ac- 
cepted. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Lincoln  Daily  Globe  wrote  from 
Wahoo,  January  21st,  1881,  concerning  the  first  visit  of 
Mr.  Finch  to  that  town  : 

"  Hon.  John  B.  Finch  was  announced  to  speak  here  last  night.  He 
had  never  been  here  before,  and  curiosity  was  on  tiptoe  to  see  the  cele- 
brated leader  of  the  temperance  forces.  He  came  Friday  noon.  He  is 
a  much  younger  man  than  was  expected,  and  one  of  our  lawyers,  after 
looking  him  over  and  seeing  how  harmless  he  looked,  challenged  him 
to  debate  the  question  of  prohibition.  Mr.  Finch  accepted,  and  an 


154  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

immense  crowd  gathered  in  the  Baptist  church  to  hear  the  discus- 
sion. 

"Mr.  Finch  opened  the  discussion  with  a  five-minute  speech,  after 
which  Mr.  Dean  took  the  platform,  and  made  a  plea  against  prohibition. 

"  To  describe  Finch's  reply  is  impossible.  One  of  our  citizens  re- 
marked that  he  should  think  Dean  would  feel  as  if  he  had  been  struck 
by  a  double-back-action  blizzard.  The  saloon-keepers  themselves  admit 
the  terrible  defeat." 

In  the  winter  of  1881-82  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  C. 
Compton  Burnett,  of  Iowa,  gained  some  notoriety  by  mak- 
ing anti -prohibition  speeches,  masquerading  as  a  temper- 
ance man. 

At  Rockford,  111.,  and  at  other  points  his  advance  agent 
put  up  posters  announcing  his  speech,  and  adding  : 

UGO  AND  HEAK  THE  GREAT  TEMPERANCE  LECTURE." 

Notices  were  also  sent  to  each  of  the  churches,  and  many 
pastors  were  trapped  by  the  deception,  and  announced  the 
meetings  from  their  pulpits. 

Not  a  line  in  his  hand-bills  or  dodgers,  or  in  the  press 
notices  they  contained,  indicated  that  his  argument  was  to 
be  in  the  line  of  opposition  to  the  principle  of  prohibition. 
It  was  learned  afterward  that  a  Rockford  brewer  paid  the 
rent  of  the  Opera  House  for  his  speech  in  that  city. 

Among  the  towns  in  Illinois  visited  by  him  was  Lincoln, 
where  a  very  strong  prohibition  sentiment  exists.  Upon 
observing  hand-bills  posted  about  town  announcing  a  tern- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  155 

perance  lecture  by  Burnett,  the  more  earnest  workers  began 
to  inquire  who  the  lecturer  could  be,  under  whose  auspices 
he  was  to  come,  and  who  were  making  arrangements.  Pro- 
found mystery  seemed  to  shroud  the  coming  of  the  alleged 
temperance  speaker.  The  day  fixed  for  the  meeting 
arrived,  and  with  it  came  Mr.  Burnett,  who  was  taken  in 
charge  by  two  saloon-keepers  and  conducted  to  a  hotel. 
This  undeceived  the  people  who  might  have  before  believed 
they  were  to  hear  a  bonafide  temperance  speech,  and  roused 
the  indignation  of  the  radical  element.  Hon.  J.  B.  Mon- 
tague sought  out  Mr.  Burnett  at  the  hotel,  and  challenged 
him  to  discuss  the  prohibition  question  with  one  of  the 
local  speakers  on  that  evening.  Mr.  Burnett  replied  that 
he  could  not  tell  for  a  few  minutes,  but  would  let  Mr. 
Montague  know  as  soon  as  he  could  consult  with  his  local 
managers.  Mr.  Montague  waited  till  time  for  meeting, 
and  hearing  nothing,  went  over  to  the  hall. 

At  the  close  of  his  speech  Mr.  Burnett  stated  that  a  man 
had  come  to  his  room  at  the  hotel  to  challenge  him  to  joint 
debate,  that  he  had  informed  the  man  that  he  would  let 
him  know  in  fifteen  minutes,  but  the  man  had  not  returned. 
Mr.  Montague  immediately  arose,  and  contradicted  the  state- 
ment, saying  that  he  would  produce  the  disputant  then  and 
there,  and  the  discussion  might  proceed  at  once. 

This  proposition  not  being  accepted.  Mr.  Montague  again 
publicly  challenged  Mr.  Burnett  to  meet  Mr.  Finch  in  a 
joint  discussion  for  two  evenings,  at  some  future  date. 


156  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

This  challenge  was  accepted,  and  January  26th  and  27th, 
1882,  fixed  upon  as  the  dates. 

Mr.  Finch  was  notified,  and  promised  to  be  present  to 
fulfil  his  part  of  the  agreement.  Suspecting  that  Mr.  Bur- 
nett was  employed  by  the  liquor  men,  Mr.  Finch  deter- 
mined to  ascertain  from  incontrovertible  evidence  whether 
such  was  the  fact.  Colonel  Sobieski  was  at  that  time  in 
Nebraska,  and  the  thought  came  to  Mr.  Finch  that  letters 
signed  by  him,  and  written  to  the  secretary  of  the  Liquor 
Association,  would  arouse  no  suspicions,  because  of  the 
foreign  spelling  of  the  name.  Accordingly  he  asked  Col- 
onel Sobieski  to  write  some  letters,  and  the  following  corre- 
spondence, which  explains  itself,  was  the  result  : 

"  LINCOLN,  NEB.,  January  4,  1882. 
"  Hon.  H.  Rubens,  Attorney  Liquor  Dealers'  Association,  Chicago,  III. 

"  DEAR  SIB  :  I  see  by  the  Times  that  you  have  one  Rev.  C.  Compton 
Burnett  speaking  for  you.  Can  we  get  him  in  Nebraska  ?  What  do  you 
pay  him  ?  Where  can  we  address  him  ? 

"  Yours,  JOHN  SEBOSKA." 

To  this  letter  the  following  reply  was  received,  written 
on  the  official  paper  of  the  Liquor  Association  : 


"  LIQUOK  DEALEBS'  AND  MANUFACTDBEBS'  ASSOCIATION, 
CHICAGO,  January  9,  1882. 


John  Seboska,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

' '  DEAB  SIB  :  You  can  address  the  Eev.  C.  Compton  Burnett,  Iowa 

City,  la. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  HABBY  RUBENS,  A." 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  157 

On  the  same  sheet  that  contained  the  letter  from  Mr. 
Rubens,  Colonel  Sobieski  wrote  the  following,  and  sent 
both  letters  to  Mr.  Burnett : 

"  LINCOLN,  NEB.,  January  11,  1882. 
"  Rev.  C.  Compton  Burnett,  Iowa  City,  la. 

"  DEAR  SIB  :  We  want  the  same  work  done  in  this  State  that  you  are 
doing  for  the  Liquor  Dealers'  Association  of  Illinois.  What  do  they  pay 
you  ?  What  are  your  terms,  and  what  dates  can  you  give  us  ?  Please 

answer  at  once. 

"  Yours, 

"  JOHN  SEBOSKA." 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Burnett  replied  : 

"  TBINITY  KECTOBY, 
IOWA  CITY,  IA.,  January  18,  1882. 
"  John  Seboska,  Esq.,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

"  MY  DEAB  SIB  :  Your  favor  of  the  llth  inst.  came  duly  to  hand,  and 
in  reply  I  beg  to  say  I  shall  gladly  accept  your  invitation  to  do  what  I  can 
in  your  State  in  opposition  to  the  prohibitive  movement.  My  engage- 
ment in  Illinois  is  to  deliver  fifty  lectures  for  $1000,  and  $5  per  day  for 
travelling  expenses.  Some  such  engagement  I  could  make  with  you. 
The  dates  I  could  not  give  for  a  week  or  so,  as  I  am  not  yet  through  in 
Illinois,  and  have  an  engagement  pending  for  this  State  next  week.  I 
have  a  two  nights'  debate  at  Lincoln,  HI.,  with  Finch,  of  your  State. 

"Please  let  me  hear  from  you  at  your  convenience.  How  late  in  the 
spring  would  suit  you  ? 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  C.  COMPTON  BUBNETT." 

Armed  with  copies  of  the  letters  of  Colonel  Sobieski  and 
Mr.  Rubens,  and  the  original  letter  from  Mr.  Burnett, 


158  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FIXCH. 

Mr.  Finch  was  prepared  to  unmask  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
man  that  opposed  prohibition  under  the  pretence  that  his 
devotion  to  temperance  was  the  sole  incentive  to  such  a 
course.  Expecting  that  his  antagonist  would  illustrate  his 
argument  by  alleging  that  the  no-license  cities  of  Iowa  were 
unable  to  execute  the  law  and  suppress  the  saloons,  Mr. 
Finch  wrote  to  lawyers,  bankers,  express  agents,  post- 
masters, and  municipal  officers  of  those  cities,  asking  what 
had  been  the  effect  of  the  adoption  of  the  prohibition 
policy.  He  did  not  know  the  sentiments  of  any  of  the 
persons  to  whom  he  addressed  his  inquiries,  but  hoped,  by 
selecting  several  classes  of  business  men,  to  arrive  at  the 
exact  truth  concerning  the  status  of  those  cities.  To  his 
surprise,  he  found  the  testimony  uniformly  favorable. 

He  was  not  mistaken  in  the  supposition  that  his  opponent 
would  deny  the  success  of  prohibition  in  the  Iowa  cities 
where  it  had  been  adopted.  Mr.  Burnett  attempted  to 
make  a  strong  point  of  his  allegations  that  the  measure  was 
ineffectual  in  checking  the  sale  and  use  of  intoxicants,  and 
was  greatly  surprised  and  disconcerted  when  Mr.  Finch 
forestalled  his  plea  by  reading  letters  from  prominent  and 
honored  citizens  testifying  to  the  good  results  to  their  com- 
munities from  the  policy  of  extirpation  which  they  had 
applied  to  the  liquor  traffic. 

Mr.  Burnett  feebly  attempted  to  deny  the  declarations 
of  the  respected  gentlemen  who  had  answered  the  letters, 
but  the  unsupported  denial  did  not  carry  much  weight  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCS.  159 

overturn  the  concise  arguments  of  Mr.  Finch,  bristling 
with  proved  facts  and  incidents. 

In  closing  his  speech  Mr.  Burnett  said  : 

"  I  have  not  had  time  for  all  I  wished  to  say.  I  ought 
to  have  at  least  five  nights  to  present  all  the  points  against 
prohibition." 

Mr.  Finch  promptly  stepped  forward  and  replied  : 

"  1  will  meet  the  gentleman  to  discuss  this  question  for 
five  nights  or  five  weeks,  if  he  desires." 

"  I  never  decline  a  challenge,"  Mr.  Burnett  answered. 

In  the  next  issue  of  the  local  papers  the  following  letter 
appeared  : 

"  To  Rev.  C.  Campion  Burnett  : 

"  Responding  to  your  desire  to  continue  the  discussion  at  Lincoln  on 
the  question,  '  Do  We  Want  Prohibition  ?  '  I  make  the  following  offer  : 
I  will  meet  you  and  discuss  the  question  in  Lincoln,  111.,  from  March 
6th  to  llth— six  nights— the  usual  rules  of  debate  to  apply.  James  B. 
Montague,  of  Lincoln,  is  empowered  to  represent  me  and  make  all 
necessary  arrangements.  Hoping  this  will  prove  satisfactory,  I  remain, 

' '  Respectfully, 

"JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

Although  the  printed  and  written  challenge  were  both 
mailed  to  Mr.  Burnett,  no  demand  was  made  upon  Mr. 
Montague  to  perfect  plans  for  another  debate. 

In  the  campaign  for  the  adoption  of  the  prohibition  con- 
stitutional amendment  in  Iowa,  in  1882,  Mr.  Finch  was 
constantly  in  the  field  for  two  months. 


160  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

The  Legislature  that  supposed  it  was  submitting  the 
amendment*  gave  only  three  months  to  make  the  canvass 
for  it,  and  fixed  the  special  election  at  which  the  question 
was  to  be  voted  on  for  June  27th,  a  date  when  the  people 
in  the  farming  communities  are  always  too  busy  to  give 
any  attention  to  any  subject  not  directly  connected  with  the 
labor  in  their  own  fields.  Knowing  that  temperance  senti- 
ment is  strongest  in  rural  precincts,  the  State  temperance 
leaders  felt  that  the  time  for  the  election  was  very  inoppor- 
tune, and  there  were  many  persons  who  openly  charged 
that  this  was  part  of  a  plan  arranged  by  the  politicians  to 
defeat  the  amendment. 

For  this  reason  every  worker  was  kept  busy,  and  the 
more  able  ones  were  required  to  do  double  duty.  Mr. 
Finch  frequently  addressed  large  grove  meetings  in  the 
afternoon,  and  afterward  took  a  train  for  some  distant  point 
to  meet  another  audience  in  the  evening. 

At  Lemars  a  renegade  minister  named  Adams,  in  the 
employ  of  the  brewers,  to  make  an ti- prohibition  speeches, 
was  anxious  to  meet  some  Prohibitionist  in  joint  debate. 
The  temperance  people  were  only  too  glad  to  grant  the  re- 
quest, and  as  Mr.  Finch  was  to  be  at  the  mass-meeting  in 
the  afternoon  of  June  14th,  the  ex-Reverend  gentleman 
was  turned  over  to  his  "  tender  mercies. "  Mr.  Finch  gave 

*  The  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa  afterward  decided  that  the  amendment 
was  never  legally  submitted,  and  that  its  adoption  by  the  people  was 
therefore  null  and  void. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  161 

Mr.  Adams  his  choice  in  the  division  of  time,  which  was 
one  hour  for  his  opening,  to  be  followed  by  one  and  one 
half  hours'  argument  from  Mr.  Finch,  and  half  an  hour 
for  closing.  This  programme  was  carried  out. 

Some  of  the  anti-prohibition  merchants  who  heard  the 
speeches  said  of  Mr.  Adams  : 

' '  His  coming  here  has  done  our  cause  harm.  We  would 
better  have  paid  him  to  stay  away." 

The  following  laughable  incident  was  reported  in  a  letter 
to  the  Sioux  City  Journal  the  next  morning  by  a  corre- 
spondent who  was  present. 

While  Mr.  Adams  was  giving  his  final  thirty  minutes' 
speech  he  said  piteously  : 

"  The  gentleman  who  has  just  preceded  me  has  been 
applauded  almost  incessantly  ;  why  do  not  you  applaud 
me?" 

The  absurdity  of  the  plea  drew  forth  a  storm  of  laughter 
and  ridicule. 

The  Lemars  Globe,  although  bitterly  hostile  to  prohibi- 
tion, gracefully  admitted  the  superiority  of  the  argument 
by  the  defender  of  the  amendment  : 

"  Mr.  Finch  answered  in  a  running  reply  to  his  opponent,  ninety 
minutes  long,  making  the  best  temperance  speech  to  which  we  have  ever 
listened.  He  showed  himself  a  finished  disputant  on  the  question  under 
discussion,  and  dealt  his  opponent  blow  after  blow  at  all  points.  He  is 
more  than  a  match  for  Mr.  Adams,  and  withal  was  so  decent  in  his 
manner  of  pummelling  his  victim  that  those  who  differ  with  him  had  to 
applaud.  Mr.  Finch  was  interrupted  throughout  by  vociferous  applause, 


162  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

and  when  he  had  qiiit  the  audience  in  a  great  majority  were  with 
him.' 

Mr.  Finch's  reputation  as  a  debater  had  now  become  so 
extended  that  very  few  opportunities  ever  afterward  oc- 
curred when  a  defender  of  the  license  system  would  con- 
sent to  meet  him  in  public  discussion. 

The  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
determined  to  celebrate  the  tenth  anniversary  of  the 
"  Crusade,"  which  began  about  the  end  of  the  year  1873. 
The  origin  of  the  movement  has  been  attributed  to  a  speech 
made  by  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  in  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  December'23d 
of  that  year.  Frances  E.  Willard,  President  of  the  National 
Union,  invited  Dr.  Lewis  to  be  present  and  deliver  an 
address  at  the  anniversary  meeting  at  Washington  Court 
House,  Ohio. 

It  was  learned  some  time  after  this  invitation  was  given 
and  accepted,  that  Dr.  Lewis  intended  to  make  his  address 
a  bitter  attack  on  the  principle  of  prohibition,  which  had 
the  hearty  support  of  the  National  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union.  The  invitation  was  therefore  with- 
drawn, and  Mr.  Finch  was  requested  by  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Wood- 
bridge,  to  challenge  Dr.  Lewis  to  engage  in  a  series  of  joint 
debates  in  the  principal  cities_of  Ohio,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  that  State. 

Mr.  Finch  promptly  complied  with  the  request,  and  for- 
warded this  challenge,  to  be  sent  by  Mrs.  Woodbridge, 
with  her  letter  of  explanation,  to  Dr.  Lewis  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  163 

"  BOSTON,  December  7,  1883. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis. 

"  DEAR  SIB  •.  Information  comes  to  me  that  you  intend,  at  the  Crnsade 
convention  at  Washington  Court  House,  to  attack  the  prohibition  policy 
of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  that  State.  I  wish  to 
state  the  following  facts,  and  make  the  following  offer  : 

' '  1.  You  are  the  originator  of  the  Crusade. 

"2.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  the  child  of  the 
Crusade. 

'*  3.  Years  of  practical  work  have  made  the  members  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  Prohibitionists.  In  other  words,  they 
believe  the  police  power  of  the  State  should  prohibit  poisoned  drink  as 
it  now  does  poisoned  food. 

"  4.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Ohio  has  just  closed 
a  most  wonderful  campaign,  and  an  attack  on  prohibition  would  be  an 
attack  on  their  policy  and  work. 

"  5.  You  intend  to  have  your  speech  printed  in  the  papers  and  circu- 
lated in  this  country  and  Europe,  and  would,  of  course,  want  the  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  prohibition  stated  so  you  can  expose  their  fallacies, 
and  not  be  compelled  to  set  up  a  man  of  straw  to  knock  down,  and  at 
the  same  time  would  be  willing  to  allow  a  thorough  examination  of  the 
statements  and  arguments  which  you  may  use.  Therefore,  I  offer  to  meet 
you  at  Washington  Court  House,  or  any  other  city  or  cities  in  Ohio,  not  to 
exceed  ten,  and  discuss  the  practicability  and  necessity  of  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  alcoholic  drink  traffic.  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  President 
of  the  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  will  represent  me  and 
make  all  necessary  arrangements.  Although  you  did  once  make  a  speech 
in  Lincoln,  Neb.,  when  you  knew  there  would  be  no  opportunity  of 
answering  it,  and  by  it  defeated  local  option  the  next  day  in  the 
Nebraska  Legislature,  I  am  sure  you  do  not  want  to  make  a  speech 
against  arguments  which  you  may  put  into  the  taouths  of  the  Prohibi- 
tionists, when  you  can  have  a  live  Prohibitionist  to  state  the  reasons  for 


164  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

prohibition.  The  liquor  traffic  is  the  institution  on  trial,  the  people 
are  the  jury,  and  you,  of  course,  believe  in  their  intelligence  and  ability 
to  settle  the  matter  right.  To  do  this  they  should  hear  both  sides  of  the 
question.  Am  I  right  in  supposing  you  do  not  wish  to  make  an  argu- 
ment on  this  great  question  without  giving  an  opportunity  to  the  Pro- 
hibitionists to  review  and  examine  it  before  the  same  jury  where  it  is 

made? 

"  Eespectfully, 

"JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

Immediately  upon  receipt  of  this  letter  Mrs.  Wood- 
bridge  enclosed  it  with  the  following  to  Dr.  Lewis  : 

' '  CLEVELAND,  December  12,  1883. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  New  York  City. 

"  SIB  :  Having  learned  of  your  intent  to  deliver  an  anti-prohibition 
speech  at  Washington  Court  House  on  the  26th  of  this  month,  and,  the 
ground  being  our  own,  the  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
has  requested  John  B.  Finch,  Esq.,  to  meet  you  at  that  time  for  a  full 
discussion  of  the  subject.  I  enclose  Mr.  Finch's  letter,  addressed  to 
yourself,  which  accompanied  his  affirmative  response  to  our  request.  I 
am  just  informed  that  the  Union  at  Washington  Court  House  has  uncon- 
ditionally withdrawn  its  invitation,  but  Mr.  Finch's  offer  for  other  cities 
holds  good,  and  we  await  your  acceptance  of  the  same.  As  we  have 
taken  the  liberty  to  publish  Mr.  Finch's  offer,  with  accompanying  cir- 
cumstances (the  same  will  appear  simultaneously  in  the  leading  papers 
of  Cleveland  and  elsewhere),  we  hope  for  a  speedy  reply,  and  that  it  may 
receive  like  publicity. 

"  Eespectfully, 

"  MARY  A.  WOODBBIDGE, 

"  President  of  the  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union." 

In  reply  to  these  letters  Dr.  Lewis  sent  the  following  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  165 

"  NEW  YOEK,  December  14,  1883. 
t(  John  B.  Finch,  Esq.,  Adams  House,  Boston,  Mass. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  pleasant  and  stimulating  letter  of  December  7th 
has  this  moment  reached  me.  Where  it  has  been  in  the  meantime  1  am 
sure  I  cannot  say.  The  thought  and  spirit  of  your  letter  are  extremely 
grateful  to  my  feelings.  I  think,  however,  that  the  proposed  discussions 
in  Ohio  are  already  forestalled  by  a  withdrawal  on  the  part  of  the  friends 
at  Washington  of  their  invitation.  They  did  invite  me  to  deliver  an 
address  on  both  Sunday  and  Monday,  the  23d  and  the  24th  ;  but  hear- 
ing that  I  intended  to  make  an  address  on  prohibition,  and  that  my 
position  would  be  that  of  anti-prohibition,  they  withdrew  their  invita- 
tion, so  that  I  am  not  going.  I  should  be  very  glad  to  discuss,  under 
favoring  conditions,  the  question  of  prohibition  with  any  intelligent  and 
earnest  Prohibitionist,  and  especially  if  he  would  be  recognized  as  a 
representative  Prohibitionist  by  the  friends  of  the  cause.  If  my  antag- 
onist had  not  the  advantage  of  such  recognition,  the  advantages  of  such 
a  meeting  would  be  greatly  lessened.  I  held  several  discussions  on  the 
subject  in  Massachusetts— one  with  the  Eev.  Dr.  Miner — and  am  very 
glad  to  give  the  reasons  for  my  belief  that  prohibition  is  the  deadliest 
enemy  of  our  Divine  cause  in  a  debate  under  favoring  conditions  ;  but 
I  think  the  opportunity  for  such  meeting  in  Ohio  has  now  been  with- 
drawn. 

"  Hoping  that  I  shall  have  the  honor  and  pleasure  to  discuss  the  sub- 
ject with  you  at  some  future  time,  provided  always  (if  you  will  pardon 
the  limitation)  that  you  are  a  recognized  representative  of  the  prohibi- 
tory party,  I  ani,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

"  Dio  LEWIS." 

"  NEW  YOBK,  December  15,  1883. 
"  Mrs.  Mary  A.    Woodbridge,   President    Woman's    Christian    Temperance 

Union. 

"  MY  FKIEND  :  Your  note  containing  Mr.  Finch's  very  courteous  letter 
has  just  reached  me.  Enclosed  please  find  my  answer  to  Mr.  Finch. 


166  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

There  is  great  danger  in  such  discussions  that  the  meeting  may  be  turned 
into  a  mere  gladiatorial  contest  ;  and  if  the  discussions  occur,  I  hope 
that  everything  may  be  done  to  give  them  the  same  spirit  which  filled 
the  very  air  of  Ohio  during  my  sojourn  there  ten  years  ago. 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  Dio  LEWIS." 

"  NEW  YOEK,  December  15,  1883. 
"  Hon.  John  B.  Finch. 

"  MY  DEAK  SIB  :  In  your  letter  just  received  you  suggest  a  series  of 
public  discussions  of  prohibition  in  Ohio.  Believing  that  the  brave, 
noble  temperance  women  of  that  State  are  in  danger  of  sacrificing  their 
Divine  cause  in  an  attempt  to  win  victory  through  an  army  of  constables, 
I  shall  be  glad  to  participate  in  such  discussions,  with  the  hope  that  I 
may  help  to  turn  the  tide. 

"On  the  occasion  of  the  decennial  celebration  of  the  Ohio  "Woman's 
Crusade  I  am  to  deliver  an  address  in  Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  like- 
wise one  in  Brooklyn.  As  I  believe  the  challenged  party  has  the  choice 
of  time  and  place,  I  wish  you  would  participate  in  the  Cooper  Institute 
meeting.  The  friends  here  will  pay  your  expenses.  If  after  that  meet- 
ing you  should  think  it  wise  to  continue  the  discussion  in  Ohio,  I  will 
meet  you  in  two  or  three  of  the  principal  cities,  my  expenses  being  paid, 
although  my  overwhelming  duties  in  this  city  will  make  it  very  difficult 
for  me  to  be  absent  so  long.  Devoutly  hoping  that  if  such  discussions 
occur  they  may  be  filled  with  the  most  earnest  purpose  on  our  part,  not 
to  win  personal  victory,  but  to  disseminate  light,  I  am  very  truly  yours, 

"  Dio  LEWIS." 

Mr.  Finch  made  this  characteristic  and  vigorous  reply  -to 
the  letters  of  Dr.  Lewis  : 

"  BOSTON,  December  20,  1883. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis. 

"  DEAR  SIB  :  Your  letters  of  the  14th  and  15th  are  at  hand.  They  are 
certainly  confusing,  if  not  contradictory.  In  the  first  place  you  stipu- 


THE  LfFE  OF  JOHN  B.    FINCH.  167 

late  that  I  shall  be  a  recognized  representative  Prohibitionist,  and  in  the 
second  you  say  nothing  about  it.  I  do  not  claim  to  be  a  recognized  rep- 
resentative of  the  Prohibitionists.  I  represent  those  who  call  on  me  to 
represent  them— the  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  I 
was  surprised  at  your  stipulation,  after  your  making  the  statement  that 
the  Ohio  women  had  withdrawn  the  invitation  which  they  had  extended 
to  you,  and  thereby  taken  away  your  right  to  claim  to  represent  anybody 
but  Dr.  Dio  Lewis.  Still,  your  personality  and  great  fame  as  a  debater, 
after  the  struggles  which  you  recount  with  Dr.  Miner  and  others,  may 
justify  you  in  declining  to  meet  any  other  than  representative  men,  and 
in  regarding  with  contempt  the  bravado  of  a  young  man  who,  in  defence 
of  friends  he  honors  and  respects,  challenges  you  to  meet  him  in  the 
lists  of  truth.  I  apologize  for  my  presumption,  and  thank  you  for  warn- 
ing me,  by  reciting  the  number  of  your  previous  victories,  of  the  danger 
I  am  to  encounter,  and  am  only  persuaded  to  go  forward  in  the  matter 
by  the  implied  agreement,  made  in  your  letter  to  Mrs.  Woodbridge,  that 
you  will  curb  your  great  powers  and  not  make  the  debate  a  great  gladi- 
atorial contest.  I  am  sure  you  will  remember  the  implied  agreement  ; 
but  in  order  to  insure  its  keeping,  I  would  suggest  that  a  member  of  the 
Woman' s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  the  body  of  Prohibitionists  which 
I  am  to  represent,  and  a  member  of  one  of  the  great  anti  prohibitory 
organizations,  the  Brewers'  Congress,  the  Distillers'  Union,  or  the  Saloon- 
Keepers'  League  be  present  on  the  platform  to  open  and  close  the  debate 
with  prayer. 

"  You  state  that  the  challenged  party  has  the  choice  of  time  and 
place.  Pardon  my  youth  and  ignorance,  for  I  did  not  suppose  that  a 
challenge  to  discuss  an  issue  in  a  State  where  it  was  pending  gave  the 
challenged  party  a  right  to  locate  the  discussion  hundreds  of  miles  away, 
in  a  State  where  it  is  not  pending  ;  and  may  I,  as  a  young  man,  suggest 
that  you  will  hardly  add  to  your  reputation  for  courage  and  manliness 
by  standing  in  the  city  of  New  York  and  firing  rhetorical  guns  at  the 
policy  of  the  women  of  Ohio.  But,  believing  in  the  principles  I  am 


168  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

asked  to  defend,  I  accept  your  terms  with  one  modification.  My  en- 
gagements render  it  impossible  for  me  to  be  in  New  York  on  the  23d  inst. 
I  can  be  there  on  February  9th  and  10th,  and  will  meet  you  on  either  of 
those  days,  in  consideration  of  your  meeting  me  in  Cincinnati,  Colum- 
bus, and  Cleveland,  O.,  during  the  week  of  February  24th  and  March  1st. 
My  friend,  John  W.  Cummings,  58  Keade  Street,  4?ew  York,  will  rep- 
resent me  in  arranging  for  the  New  York  meeting,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Wood- 
bridge,  of  Cleveland,  0.,  in  arranging  for  the  Ohio  meetings. 

' '  Ksspectf ully, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

Dr.  Lewis  seemed  disposed  to  quibble,  and  several  com- 
munications, which  will  explain  themselves,  passed  between 
him  and  Mr.  Finch. 

"  NEW  YORK,  December  21,  1883. 
"  Hon.  John  B.  Finch. 

' '  MY  DEAB  SIE  :  Your  letter  of  yesterday  has  just  reached  me.  I  am 
sorry  you  cannot  come  to  New  York  and  begin  our  discussions  here  on 
the  23d.  I  have  no  authority,  until  I  consult  with  the  friends  here,  to 
arrange  a  meeting  for  February  9th  or  10th.  I  presume  such  meetings 
can  be  arranged,  however,  and  I  will  give  you  notice.  You  suggest  that 
our  discussions  in  Ohio  shall  take  place  during  the  weeks  '  February 
4th  and  March  1st,  1884.'  I  cannot  quite  comprehend  this,  and  think 
it  must  be  in  some  way  an  error.  Please  inform  me  what  it  means.  I 
have  carefully  quoted  the  words  from  your  letter.  I  can  hardly  believe 
you  are  serious  in  your  proposition  to  have  a  number  of  the  members  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  meet  on  the  platform  with 
members  of  the  Distillers'  Union  or  Saloon-Keepers'  League,  one  to 
open  and  the  other  to  close  the  debate  with  prayer.  This  must  be  in- 
tended as  a  joke.  In  the  meantime,  although  you  are  very  busy  with 
your  evening  addresses,  can  you  not  find  time  to  write  a  series  of  letters 
in  the  Ohio  papers  in  reference  to  prohibition  ?  I  will  prepare  a  serie» 


TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  169 

of  brief  papers  against  prohibition.  Should  the  papers  of  Ohio  publish 
our  contributions,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  would  get  some  idea  of 
our  respective  views,  and  thus  be  better  able  to  comprehend  our  public 

discussions. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"Dio  LEWIS." 

"BOSTON,  December  22,  1883. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis. 

"  DEAR  SIB  :  Answering  yours  of  December  21st,  1883,  my  friend,  John 
W.  Cummings,  58  Reade  Street,  New  York,  will  call  on  you  and  make 
all  necessary  arrangements  for  the  New  York  meeting,  provided  you  will 
meet  me  in  Cincinnati,  Columbus,  and  Cleveland,  O.,  during  the  week 
beginning  February  21th  and  ending  March  1st.  This  is  what  I  in- 
tended to  say,  and  if  I  failed,  it  was  a  mistake  of  the  pen.  I  will  pay  my 
own  expenses  in  New  York,  and  my  friends  will  assist  in  making  it  a 
joint  meeting.  I  was  certainly  serious  iu  my  proposition  to  have  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Prohibitionists  and  anti-Prohibitionists  on  the  plat- 
form to  open  and  close  the  meeting  with  prayer.  The  Ohio  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  I  am  to  represent,  is  a  body  of  Pro- 
hibitionists, and  a  member  of  that  body,  properly  delegated,  would  be  a 
representative  Prohibitionist.  I  am  sure  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard, 
President  of  the  National  "Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  will 
delegate  some  lady  to  represent  the  national  body  and  open  the  debate 
with  prayer.  The  Brewers'  Congress,  Distillers'  Union,  and  Saloon- 
Keepers'  League  are  the  only  representative  bodies  of  an ti -Prohibition- 
ists in  the  country,  and  as  you  are  to  represent  the  principle  they  are 
organized  to  defend,  I  am  sure,  if  you  request  it,  they  would  delegate 
some  member  of  their  craft  to  close  the  debate  with  prayer  ;  for  if  their 
business  is  to  be  tolerated  by  a  Christian  State,  it  is  right  to  ask  God 
to  bless  it.  When  you  know  me  better  you  will  know  I  never  joke  about 
matters  like  this.  But  I  do  not  wish  it  understood  that  I  make  it  a 
necessary  condition  of  the  debate  that  a  representative  anti-Prohibition- 
ist  close  it  with  prayer,  for  I  presume  the  truth,  plainly  stated  during 


170  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

the  discussion,  would  not  tend  to  make  him  [no  woman  is  an  anti-Pro- 
hibitionistj  very  devout. 

"  In  regard  to  making  the  discussion  a  newspaper  warfare  in  Ohio,  I 
will  simply  say  I  know  many  of  the  editors  in  Ohio,  and  judging  the 
rest  by  those  who  are  my  friends,  I  think  they  are  as  fully  capable  of 
discussing  the  question  intelligently  as  either  of  us  ;  and  I  have  no 
desire  to  reflect  on  their  ability  or  honesty  by  using  their  columns, 
thereby  insinuating  that  they  lack  either  the  intelligence  or  will  to  dis- 
cuss this  great  national  issue.  I  have  neither  time  nor  inclination  for  a 
newspaper  controversy  ;  and,  in  addition,  fear  I  could  not  make  you 
understand  so  but  what  you  would  take  my  most  serious  arguments  as 
jokes.  You  propose  to  attack  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
of  Ohio  on  the  same  line  the  liquor-sellers  have  been  attacking  them 
for  years.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  ask  me  to  answer 
you.  Believing  that  a  man  who  claims  to  be  a  temperance  man,  and 
uses  his  strength  not  against  the  common  enemy,  but  against  women 
working  for  the  same  cause,  but  not  in  his  way,  should  be  met  and 
forced  to  choose  between  the  temperance  workers  and  their  enemies,  I, 
despite  my  youth,  ignorance,  and  lack  of  platform  experience,  in  defence 
of  the  policy  of  the  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  threw 
my  glove  into  the  ring,  and  asked  God  to  give  me  strength  and  wisdom 
to  defend  the  cause  of  the  women  and  children  and  homes  of  this  land. 
Is  it  to  be  taken  up  ?  Further  letter- writing  is  unnecessary. 

"  Kespectfully, 

"JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

' '  NEW  YOEK,  December  22,  1883. 
"  Hon.  John  B.  Mnch,  Adams  House,  Boston,  Mass. 

' '  MY  DEAR  SIB  :  In  rereading  your  letter  of  the  20th,  I  find  several 
sentences  of  such  extraordinary  character  and  so  offensive  to  me,  that  I 
write  to  ask  if  they  were  intentional  ?  I  refer  to  such  sentences  as,  '  I 
thank  you  from  my  heart  for  warning  me,  by  reciting  the  number  of 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.    FINCH.  171 

your  past  victories,  of  the  danger  I  am  to  encounter,'  etc.  And,  again, 
'  You  will  hardly  add  to  your  reputation  for  courage,  manliness,'  etc. 

"  These  are  very  extraordinary  sentences — the  first  one  in  particular 
— as  I  had  not  made  the  slightest  allusion  to  a  victory  nor  to  anything 
of  the  kind. 

"  And,  again,  '  Curb  your  great  powers. '  And  once  more,  your  propo- 
sition to  have  a  member  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
and  a  member  of  the  Distillers'  Union  or  Saloon-Keepers'  League  on 
the  platform — '  one  to  open  and  the  other  to  close  the  debates  with 
prayer  ' — is  of  so  extraordinary  a  character  that  I  scarcely  know  what  to 
say  about  it.  If  one  is  at  liberty  to  assume  that  you  are  serious  in  this 
proposition,  I  can  only  say  that  it  is  monstrous  and  impracticable.  If 
the  proposition  is  made  in  irony,  I  take  the  liberty  to  suggest  that  it  is 
far  below  the  level  of  the  proposed  discussions. 

"  All  these  sentences  are  extremely  offensive  to  me.  I  never  either 
write  or  speak  on  that  plane  ;  but  in  all  my  labors  in  temperance, 
hygiene,  or  science,  whether  as  a  writer  or  a  speaker,  however  feeble  my 
efforts  may  be  intellectually,  I  always  try  as  well  as  I  know  how  to  be 
courteous  to  every  one.  And  in  the  field  of  temperance,  in  which  I  have 
labored  pretty  constantly  for  forty  years,  I  uniformly  treat  the  friends 
of  rum,  when  I  believe  them  sincere,  with  the  same  politeness  as  the 
friends  of  temperance. 

"  Will  you  please  tell  me  if  these  remarkable  sentences  were  acci- 
dents, or  written  with  a  clear  conception  of  their  meaning  ? 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"Dio  LEWIS." 

"  BOSTON,  December  24,  1883. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis. 

"  DEAK  SIB  :  Your  letter  of  the  22d  is  at  hand.  Please  allow  me  to 
say  if  there  has  been  any  discourtesy  in  our  correspondence  it  was  in 
your  first  letter  to  me,  when,  after  I  had,  on  behalf  of  the  Ohio  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  asked  you  to  discuss  the  question,  you, 


172  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

instead  of  accepting  or  declining  the  invitation,  \vent  on  to  stipulate 
'  that  I  should  be  a  representative  Prohibitionist.'  I  challenged  you  as 
a  man,  and  desired  to  meet  you  as  a  man  for  an  honest  comparison  of 
views,  but  you  declined  to  meet  me  unless  I  was  a  '  representative  Pro- 
hibitionist.' Of  course  there  must  be  a  reason  for  this,  and  it  must  be 
one  of  two  : 

"  1.  You  were  speaking  as  a  representative  anti-Prohibitionist  for  the 
great  anti-prohibition  organizations,  as  Brewers'  Congress,  etc.  ;  or, 

"  2.  Your  own  fame  and  personality  were  so  great  as  to  entitle  you  to 
make  the  stipulation.  Under  any  other  circumstances  the  stipulation 
was  impertinent  and  insulting.  I  long  ago  learned  that  a  man  who 
hunted  for  insults  lacked  good  sense,  and  was  not  inclined  to  think  you 
meant  an  insult.  T  could  not  believe  the  first  reason  was  the  true  one, 
so  I  was  forced  back  upon  the  second  as  the  real  reason,  and  from  that 
standpoint  wrote  my  letter  of  the  20th.  I  wrote  calmly,  earnestly,  dis- 
passionately, fully  comprehending  all  I  wrote.  I  wrote  as  a  young  man 
to  one  of  superior  ability  and  experience,  to  say  what  I  really  thought 
ought  to  be  said  in  return  for  favors  which  your  letters  seemed  to  grant. 
If  you  did  not  mean  to  warn  me,  why  did  you  mention  your  contest  with 
the  Kev.  Dr.  Miner  ?  Certainly  it  was  matter  entirely  foreign  to  this 
case.  I  presumed  it  was  a  victory  for  you,  for  the  vanquished  are  not 
apt  to  mention  their  defeats  to  new  antagonists. 

"  You  say,  '  I  never  write  or  speak  on  that  plane.' 

"  I  have  before  me  a  book  *  and  read  this  sentence  :  '  I  will  not  say 
that  those  who  make  such  statements  are  not  honest  men,  and  that  they 
do  not  think  they  are  speaking  the  truth  ;  but  it  is  very  easy  to  show 
that  they  entirely  fail  to  comprehend  the  subjects  and  the  facts.'  This 
is  said  of  the  Bev.  Dr.  D.  C.  Eddy. 

' '  Again  I  read  :  '  And  yet  Prohibitionists  are  some  of  them  so  loose- 
headed,'  etc. 


*  Prohibition  a  Failure.    By  Dio  Lewis. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  173 

"  Again  :  '  When  we  stop  lying  and  utter  our  convictions  about  their 
trade  in  a  reasonable  and  earnest  spirit,'  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the 
book. 

"  This  book,  with  all  its  irony,  insinuation,  sarcasm,  niisstatenient, 
misrepresentation,  and  illogical  deductions,  purports  to  have  been  writ- 
ten by  you,  and  I  am  glad  to  be  informed  by  your  letter  that  you  do  not 
write  on  that  plane,  and  that,  consequently,  the  book  could  not  have 
been  written  by  you. 

"  The  issue  between  us  is  not  a  personal  one,  and  on  my  part  shall 
never  be  degraded  to  a  personal  one.  It  is  a  question  of  principle,  and 
in  the  spirit  of  my  first  letter  I  ask  you  not  to  avoid  the  discussion  by 
trying  to  insinuate  that  your  personality  has  been  attacked.  I  assure 
you  I  do  not  at  all  feel  like  raising  false  issues  to  get  out  of  the  discus- 
sion, but  am  truly  anxious  to  meet  you,  hoping  that  by  a  comparison  of 
views  the  cause  of  truth  may  be  benefited,  and  I,  by  listening  to  you,  be 
strengthened  for  the  battle  of  life. 

"  Respectfully, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

Two  weeks  after  this  letter  was  written  Dr.  Lewis  wrote 
Mrs.  Woodbridge  declining  to  meet  Mr.  Finch,  and  re- 
ceived from  her  a  very  emphatic  reply  : 

"  NEW  YORK,  January  7,  1884. 
"  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge  : 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM  :  You  ask  me  to  send  you  information  in  regard  to 
the  proposed  discussion  between  Mr.  Finch  and  myself.  In  a  recent 
letter  he  insists  that  he  is  serious  in  his  proposition  that  on  the  platform 
at  our  discussions  we  shall  have  a  member  of  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  and  some  representative  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  open 
and  close  the  meeting  with  prayer.  Mr.  Finch  declares  in  response  to 
my  remonstrance  that  this  is  not  a  joke,  but  that  it  was  written  '  calmly 
and  dispassionately.' 


174  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  A  large  number  of  the  most  devout  friends  of  temperance  think  that 
to  call  attention  away  from  the  moral  agencies  which  they  believe  are 
the  only  effective  forces  in  the  temperance  cause  and  fix  it  on  the  con- 
stable is  a  fatal  error.  This  is  my  own  deepest  conviction.  Many  of  our 
most  enlightened  and  influential  editors  cherish  the  same  thought.  And 
now  Mr.  Finch  seriously  proposes  that  we  get  a  rum-seller  to  pray  for  a 
blessing  on  our  cause.  I  ask  you,  my  dear  madam,  if  you  can  believe 
that  a  discussion  inaugurated  by  such  a  proposition  as  that  can  result  in 
any  good  ? 

"I  will  not  recall  the  very  offensive  personalities  in  Mr.  Finch's  let- 
ters to  me,  for  the  public  have  read  them,  but  it  seems  clear  that  while 
our  discussions  might  amuse  the  boys,  we  should  not  contribute  to  the 
solution  of  a  great  problem.  It  is  always  difficult  to  keep  oral  debates 
within  the  sphere  of  instruction,  so  that  many  persons  quite  despair  of 
their  usefulness. 

"  I  have  participated  in  many  public  discussions,  and  confess  to  a 
liking  for  that  sort  of  thing,  bat  must  now  say  that  I  am  not  willing  to 
join  in  the  proposed  discussion  with  Mr.  Finch. 

"  I  will,  however,  if  the  leading  papers  in  Ohio  care  to  publish  my 
contributions,  prepare  a  series  of  brief  papers  on  prohibition,  and  Mr. 
Finch  can,  if  he  chooses,  respond  to  them.  In  this  way  we  shall  reach 
the  entire  reading  public  of  Ohio,  and  much  more  effectively  than  in 
public  debates,  unless  the  debaters  are  filled  with  their  subject  and  can 
forget  themselves. 

"  With  vivid  recollections  of  past  scenes  in  Ohio,  and  with  a  yearning 
hope  that  the  earnest  women  of  your  great  State  may  be  divinely  guided, 

"  Kespectfully, 

"  Dio  LEWIS." 

"  CLEVELAND,  0.,  January  11,  1884. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  New  York  City. 

"  SIB  :  Your  communication  of  the  7th  is  before  me,  in  which  you 
decline  the  discussion  with  Mr.  Finch  which  you  had  engaged  to  hold, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCB.  1?5 

and  assign  as  your  reason  '  his  peculiar  request  concerning  the  opening 
and  closing  of  the  meetings  with  prayer.' 

"  Such  excuse  is  wholly  untenable,  as  Mr.  Finch,  in  his  letter  to  you 
of  December  22d,  writes,  '  I  do  not  wish  it  understood  that  I  make  it  a 
necessary  condition  of  debate. ' 

"  We  cannot,  therefore,  accept  such  excuse. 

"  Again  you  say  :  '  A  large  number  of  the  most  devout  friends  of  tem- 
perance think  that  to  call  attention  away  from  the  moral  agencies  which 
they  believe  are  the  only  effective  forces  in  the  temperance  cause  and  fix 
it  on  the  constable  is  a  fatal  error. '  The  people  of  Ohio  do  not  advo- 
cate any  such  doctrine  ;  but  if  you  think  they  do,  it  should  be  your 
desire  to  bring  every  influence  to  bear  for  their  conviction  and  conver- 
sion to  what  you  alone  believe  to  be  the  truth. 

"  You  also  say,  '  Through  newspaper  correspondence  the  reading  pub- 
lic of  Ohio  would  be  more  effectively  reached,  unless  the  debaters  are 
filled  with  the  subject  and  can  forget  themselves.'  Again:  '  It  seems 
clear  that  while  our  discussions  might  amuse  the  boys,  we  should  not 
contribute  to  the  solution  of  a  great  problem.' 

"  I  have  never  listened  to  an  address  by  yourself,  and  cannot  say  if 
your  personality  is  superior  to  your  subject,  or  if  you  are  usually  amus- 
ing to  boys,  but  I  can  positively  affirm  that  Mr.  Finch  always  forgets 
himself  in  his  argument  for  the  redemption  of  the  people  and  the  salva- 
tion of  this  Kepublic  from  the  curse  of  intemperance,  and  never  de- 
scends to  trifling  or  buffoonery.  So  if  you  will  guard  yourself  against 
being  amusing,  the  meetings  must  be  a  success. 

' '  You  will  perceive  that  your  excuses  for  withdrawing  from  the  debate 
are  without  foundation,  and  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
of  Ohio  holds  you  to  your  agreement,  and  will  continue  to  arrange  for 
the  appointed  meetings  at  Cleveland,  Columbus,  and  Cincinnati. 
"  Kespectfully, 

"  MABT  A.  WOODBKTDOE, 
"  President  Ohio  Woman's  Chrisiian  Temperance  Union." 


176  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  NEW  YOKE,  January  21,  1884. 
"  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge. 

"  DEAB  MADAM  :  I  can  add  nothing  to  the  statement  in  my  last  letter 
to  you.  More  than  a  score  of  trusted  friends  who  have  read  Mr.  Finch's 
letters  to  me  advise  against  the  discussion.  I  am  sory  to  hear  from  you 
that  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Ohio,  notwithstand- 
ing my  positive  withdrawal  from  the  debate,  will  still  go  on  announcing 
me  as  one  of  the  disputants.  If  any  one  should  come  to  hear  me  he 
would  be  disappointed. 

"  I  am  to  meet  Neal  Dow  in  an  early  issue  of  the  North  American  Re- 
view. If  the  public  journals  do  not  reprint  our  papers,  I  will  gladly  join 
with  the  friends  of  prohibition  in  printing  and  distributing  them 
throughout  the  State. 

' '  Yours  respectfully, 

"  Dio  LEWIS." 

"  CLEVELAND,  0.,  January  23,  1884. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  New  York  City. 

"  DEAB  SIB  :  Yours  of  the  21st  this  hour  received.  The  Ohio  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  continued  the  announcement  of  your  com- 
ing for  two  reasons  :  1.  We  could  not  think  the  '  advice  of  trusted 
friends, '  though  '  more  than  a  score '  in  number,  would  tempt  you  to 
break  an  engagement  in  which  your  word  and  honor  were  at  stake.  2. 
We  believed  the  discussion  would  be  of  great  benefit  to  our  cause,  and 
desired  the  communities  where  the  meetings  were  to  be  held  to  be  fully 
informed  concerning  them.  Our  experience  gives  us  no  assurance  that 
a  contract  of  any  character  would  be  binding  on  your  part.  We  do  not, 
therefore,  care  to  consider  your  proposition. 
"  Respectfully, 

"  MABT  A.  WOODBBIDGE, 
"President  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union." 

Mr.  Finch  tersely  summed  up  and  closed  the  epistolary 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  177 

controversy.     To  the  following  incisive  letter  he  received 
no  reply  : 

"  BOSTON,  January  28,  1884. 
"  Dr.  Dio  Lewis. 

"  DEAK  SIK  :  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge  has  just  forwarded  to  me  your 
letters  declining  to  meet  me  in  discussion  in  Ohio.  I  am  not  surprised, 
for  I  hardly  expected  that  a  man  who  would  accept  an  invitation  from 
Christian  women  to  assist  them  in  their  work,  and  then  propose  to  use 
the  opportunity  to  attack  their  work,  would  care  to  meet  in  fair  discus- 
sion a  representative  of  those  women.  If  an  organization  should  invite 
me  to  speak  for  them,  I  should  consider  myself  in  honor  bound,  if  I  was 
opposed  to  their  plan  of  work,  to  state  so  in  my  letter  of  acceptance. 
You  knew  prohibition  was  a  primary  principle  of  the  Ohio  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  ;  why  did  you  not  state  in  your  letter  to 
Miss  Willard  what  you  proposed  to  do  ?  In  the  West  it  would  hardly 
be  considered  honorable  warfare  to  accept  the  hospitalities  of  a  person 
for  the  sake  of  catching  him  off  his  guard  and  attacking  him.  You 
seemed  to  think  differently,  and  when  your  purpose  was  discovered,  I 
was  asked  by  the  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  to  meet 
you.  You  accepted  the  invitation  in  your  letter  of  December  15th,  and 
indicated  how  you  wished  the  meetings  conducted,  by  saying,  '  There  is 
great  danger  in  such  discussions  that  the  meetings  may  be  turned  into 
a  mere  gladiatorial  contest,  and  if  the  discussions  occur,  I  hope  that 
everything  may  be  done  to  give  them  the  same  spirit  which  filled  the 
very  air  of  Ohio  during  my  sojourn  there  ten  years  ago.'  What  filled 
the  air  ?  The  spirit  of  prayer.  The  world  knows  this  to  be  the  fact. 
To  carry  out  your  suggestion  and  ensure  the  fact  that  no  gladiatorial 
contest  should  take  place,  I,  in  my  letter  of  December  20th,  suggested 
that  a  member  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  Brew- 
ers' League,  Distillers'  Union,  or  Saloon-Keepers'  Union  be  on  the  plat- 
form to  open  and  close  the  meeting  with  prayer.  In  your  letter  of 
December  22d,  you  say,  '  The  proposition  is  monstrous  and  impracti- 


178  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINC'B. 

cable. '  Why  monstrous  and  impracticable  ?  If  you  did  not  mean 
prayer,  what  did  you  mean  by  '  the  spirit  of  ten  years  ago  '  ?  I  do  not 
consider  it  either  monstrous  or  impracticable  to  have  a  debate  opened 
or  closed  with  prayer.  In  your  letter  of  January  7th  you  seem  to  convey 
the  idea  that  the  suggestion  is  monstrous  and  impracticable  because  a 
representative  anti-Prohibitionist  is  to  assist  in  the  praying.  In  your 
speech  in  New  York,  January  4th,  you  said  :  '  It  is  not  right  to  call  the 
liquor-dealers  devils  and  hell-hounds  ;  many  of  them  are  as  good  men 
as  anybody  ;  '  and  yet,  on  the  7th,  you  object  to  one  of  these  good  men 
praying  iu  meeting.  Would  it  be  '  monstrous  '  and  '  impracticable  '  to 
ask  you  to  pray  ?  If  a  liquor-dealer  is  as  good  as  anybody  he  is  as  good 
as  you  ;  and  if  it  would  be  correct  to  ask  you  to  pray,  why  not  correct 
to  ask  him  ?  Is  not  saying,  '  It  is  monstrous  and  impracticable  to  ask  a 
liquor-dealer  to  pray,'  equivalent  to  saying  he  is  a  '  devil '  and  a  '  hell- 
hound '  ?  More  than  this,  you  know  I  positively  stated  the  suggestion 
was  not  made  a  condition  of  the  debate. 

"  In  your  letter  of  January  7th,  you  say  :  '  To  call  attention  away 
from  moral  agencies  and  fix  it  on  the  constable  is  a  fatal  error.'  You 
know  that  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  never  did  and 
never  will  advocate  any  such  thing,  and  that  prohibition  does  not  con- 
template any  such  thing.  The  inference  conveyed  by  the  sentence  is 
false,  and  if  your  argument  was  to  stand  on  such  foundation  I  do  not 
wonder  that  you  avoided  the  discussion. 

"  You  profess  to  be  willing  to  take  up  the  newspaper  controversy. 
Your  letters  convey  the  idea  that  you  grow  brave,  as  you  occupy  ground 
which  you  know  that  no  one  cares  to  take  the  time  to  contest  with  you. 
I  regret  your  refusal  to  keep  your  agreement,  and  that  the  anti-Pro- 
hibitionists have  not  a  man  in  this  country  to  defend  the  traffic  on  its 
merits  ;  that  all  its  defence  must  come  under  the  cloak  of  temperance, 
with  its  defender  protesting  that  he  does  it  from  a  temperance  stand- 
point. With  kindest  wishes,  I  am,  my  dear  sir, 

"  Respectfully  yours, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 


T3E  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH.  179 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  December  23d,  1883,  Dr.  Dio 
Lewis  delivered  an  address  at  the  meeting  of  the  Manhattan 
Temperance  Association  in  Cooper  Union  Hall,  New  York. 
This  was  the  speech  prepared  for  the  anniversary  meeting 
of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  held  on  the 
same  day  at  Washington  Court  House,  O.  He  ridiculed 
prohibition  and  its  defenders,  as  had  been  expected,  and 
spun  a  web  .of  gauzy  sophistry  around  the  central  thoughts 
of  "  personal  liberty"  and  "  prohibition  a  failure." 

Although  Dr.  Lewis  had  declined  to  engage  in  the  joint 
debate,  it  was  determined  that  Mr.  Finch  should  have  an 
opportunity  to  answer  him.  A  meeting  was  therefore 
arranged  for  Chickering  Hall,  New  York,  for  Sunday, 
February  10th,  when  he  utterly  demolished  the  frail  fabric 
of  false  reasoning  woven  by  Dr.  Lewis. 

Mr.  Finch  said  : 

"  LADLES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  A  man  standing  on  the  snow-capped  top  of 
a  mountain  in  Switzerland  picked  up  a  piece  of  ice  and  threw  it  down 
the  mountain  side.  It  struck  many  feet  below,  where,  lo,  the  mountain 
side  seemed  to  break  loose,  and  an  immense  field  of  ice  and  snow  moved 
swiftly  and  with  resistless  force  toward  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  On 
it  swept,  moving  swifter  and  swifter,  grinding  rocks  to  powder,  tearing 
loose  and  carrying  away  old  landmarks,  until  with  a  plunge  it  leaped  into 
a  ravine  at  the  base,  where  it  lay  a  disorganized  mass,  without  motion 
or  power.  The  man  gazed  in  astonishment  at  the  force  his  unthinking 
effort  had  set  in  motion,  and  on  his  way  down  the  mountain  stopped  to 
look  at  the  spent  avalanche,  when  he  saw  it  was  already  dissolving  in 
the  warm  embrace  of  the  lower  atmosphere.  The  immense  mass  had 
moved  from  the  arms  of  winter  to  the  lap  of  spring,  where  the  influence 


180  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

of  softer  clime  and  warmer  winds  were  liberating  the  water,  and  sending 
it  ladened  with  the  powdered  rock  to  turn  the  wheel  of  the  mill  and  the 
factory,  and  then  to  fertilize  the  fields  of  intelligent  industry,  in  the 
valley  below. 

"'The  Woman's  Crusade'  was  an  avalanche,  set  in  motion  by  the 
words  of  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  and,  like  the  mountain  avalanche,  it  swept  on 
during  the  winter  of  1873-74,  astonishing  the  world  by  its  power,  and 
then  stopped,  held  by  the  hills  of  emotional  reaction  and  public  inertia,  a 
disorganized,  helpless  mass.  The  world  asked,  '  What  good  has  been 
accomplished  ?  '  The  answer  came  in  the  organization  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union.  The  movement  had  taken  woman  from 
the  mountains  of  icy  waiting  and  inaction  to  the  more  genial  clime  of 
religious  and  moral  activity,  under  whose  influence  the  force  formerly 
latent  was  set  free  and  made  a  blessing  to  the  world  by  the  methods  of 
action  planned  and  developed  by  woman  herself. 

"  The  Woman's  Crusade  was  an  effect,  not  a  cause.  For  years  the 
force  had  been  gathering,  and  the  breaking  of  social  bonds,  heart-loves, 
and  home  ties  by  the  evils  of  the  drink  traffic  made  its  liberation  an 
easy  matter. 

"  The  old  adage,  '  A  state  of  war  is  a  state  of  immorality,'  was  doubly 
verified  during  our  terrible  Civil  War.  The  issue  in  the  northland  was 
national  life  ;  in  the  southland,  southern  independence.  In  both  sec- 
tions all  other  questions  were  subordinated,  and  the  public  mind,  con- 
stantly occupied  with  national  issues,  overlooked  the  minor  matters  of 
the  enforcement  of  law  and  protection  of  public  morals  ;  this,  taken  to- 
gether with  the  fact  that  moral  men  are  uniformly  the  patriots  of  the 
nation,  while  bad  men  always  seize  the  opportunity  offered  by  public 
danger  and  consequent  demoralization  to  increase  their  ill  gotten  gains 
and  fasten  securely  on  public  life,  led  to  a  rapid  increase  of  intemper- 
ance ;  while  the  order  directing  the  issuing  of  liquor  rations  to  the 
troops  make  drunkards  of  thousands  of  previously  temperate  men.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  and  the  return  of  the  troops,  drunkenness  hung  like 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  181 

a  dark  cloud  over  the  land.  Homes  were  wrecked,  hearts  broken,  and 
the  moan  of  the  widow  and  orphan  made  by  drink  filled  the  land. 
Woman  suffered  in  silence  until  her  love  for  her  home  and  dear  ones 
shut  out  from  her  mental  vision  all  other  considerations  but  their  pro- 
tection and  safety.  It  was  Dr.  Lewis's  words,  which,  like  the  ice 
thrown  from  the  mountain  top,  was  just  the  force  to  set  in  motion 
woman,  to  right  her  own  wrongs.  His  words  hastened  but  did  not 
cause  woman's  action.  Only  bitterest  agony,  united  with  anxiety  for 
loved  ones  and  humanity,  could  have  forced  modest,  loving,  cultured 
women  to  break  away  from  the  conventional  restraints  of  ages,  all  the 
teachings  of  their  early  years,  and  amid  the  sneers  and  jeers  of  those  they 
wished  to  save  enter  vile  grog-shops  to  plead  on  their  knees  for  their 
homes  and  loved  ones.  Like  all  force  suddenly  and  thoughtlessly 
released,  the  crusade  spent  itself,  and  an  emotional  reaction  came.  As  a 
temperance  movement,  per  se,  it  was  a  wretched  failure  ;  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  organized,  systematic,  intelligent  work,  it  was  of  God,  and  by 
Him  directed.  [Applause.] 

"  During  this  wonderful  time  of  preparation,  the  mental  horizon  of 
woman  broadened  rapidly,  and  when  the  crusade  had  done  its  work  and 
its  time  of  usefulness  had  forever  passed,  they  were  ready  to  use  their 
new-found  powers  in  an  intelligent,  logical  way.  The  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  sprang  from  the  brain  of  the  women  of  the  cru- 
sade like  Minerva  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter.  Dr.  Lewis  neither  by  word 
nor  pen  gave  shape  to  the  movement.  His  speech  shows  he  has  not  de- 
veloped since  the  crusade  started,  for  he  says  : 

"  '  I  am  an  old  man,  but  1  expect  to  live  long  enough  to  see  the  friends 
of  temperance  turn  their  backs  upon  the  constable,  join  hands  and  hearts 
in  a  grand  movement  combining  the  tactics  of  Washingtonianism  and 
the  Woman's  Crusade,  and  within  twelve  months  fill  the  most  wonderful 
page  in  the  history  of  Christian  civilization.' 

"  Not  only  has  Dr.  Lewis  failed  to  grasp  a  sensible  idea,  but,  like  the 
great  defender  of  the  theory  of  phlogiston  (fire-matter),  seems  to  have 


182  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

given  up  Ms  own  investigations  and  work  in  order  to  be  free  to  devote 
his  time  to  attacking  those  who  differ  with  him.  The  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  abandons  the  methods,  not  the  principles  of  the 
crnsade,  and  for  this  he  attacks  it. 

"  It  is  a  principle  of  all  reforms,  that  while  principles  may  not  change, 
methods  must  change,  to  meet  the  ever-changing  front  of  the  evil  as- 
sailed. As  well  say,  it  would  have  been  wisdom  for  Grant  to  have 
trained  his  guns  on  the  old  field  of  Bull  Run,  when  Lee  was  in  Peters- 
burg and  Richmond,  or  for  Lee  to  have  trained  his  guns  on  Malvern 
Hill,  when  Meade  was  in  Pennsylvania,  as  to  say  the  temperance  forces 
of  to-day  should  attack  the  same  position  they  did  ten  years  ago.  The 
moral,  social,  and  religious  position  of  the  enemy  is  different  ;  his 
methods  of  defence  have  been  almost  wholly  changed  ;  and  to  advocate 
the  use  of  old  methods  would  be  like  advocating  an  attack  with  the 
cross-bows  and  catapults  of  old  upon  a  fortification  armed  with  rifled 
cannon.  [Applause.]  The  women  who  had  been  led  into  the  crusade 
by  their  desire  to  protect  themselves,  their  loved  ones,  and  humanity 
from  the  evils  of  intemperance,  were  taught  this  principle  by  practical 
experience. 

"  The  attack  of  the  crusade  upon  the  grog-shops  was  based  upon  the 
following  axioms  : 

"  1.  Knowledge  of  the  material  universe  comes  to  a  child  through  his 
sense  perceptions. 

"  2.  The  child's  habits,  character,  and  powers  depend  largely  upon 
the  habits,  customs,  and  institutions  of  which  his  sense  perceptions  take 
cognizance. 

"  3.  Alcoholic  liquors  are  a  product  of  man's  work,  consequently  the 
desire  for  and  disease  resulting  from  the  use  of  must  follow  their 
manufacture.  To  grant  even  the  existence  of  a  natural  desire  for  stim- 
ulants (which  I  would  not  do)  is  not  to  grant  the  desire  for  a  specific 
stimulant,  as  the  general  desire  could  only  become  a  specific  desire  when 
it  had  been  trained  to  the  use  of  the  specific  stimulant. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  183 

"  4.  Alcoholic  drinks  being  a  manufactured  poison,  the  supply  must 
precede  and  create  the  demand  for  them. 

"  5.  The  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  in  all  ages  and  nations  has  been 
proportionate  to  the  public  popular  facilities  for  obtaining  the  same. 

"  From  these  axioms  it  follows  :  that  the  public  grog-shop,  by  expos- 
ing the  liquors  for  sale  and  promoting  social  customs  that  lead  to  their 
use,  is  a  school  of  drunkenness,  and  for  this  reason  the  crusade  moved 
against  it.  Upon  any  other  theory  the  crusade  was  unjust,  indefensible. 

"  The  leaders  of  the  organized  movement  examined  closely  the  theory 
of  the  crusade.  They  were  to  deal  with  mankind.  To  understand  the 
reform  it  is  necessary  to  study  mankind. 

"  Man  is  a  social  animal.  Society  is  necessary  for  his  development. 
To  isolate  him  is  to  destroy  him  as  an  intellectual  being,  and  to  degrade 
him  to  the  level  of  the  brute.  The  effects  of  solitary  confinement  in 
the  prisons  of  France  and  the  United  States,  the  history  of  persons  lost 
on  uninhabited  islands — all  prove  that  man  was  created  as  a  social  being  ; 
that,  removed  from  his  fellows,  he  ceases  to  be  man.  Therefore,  any 
system  of  ethics  is  weak  and  defective  which  fails  to  recognize  the  dual 
nature  of  man  as  an  individual  responsible  to  God,  and  as  a  social  unit 
responsible  to  society,  made  necessary  by  his  very  nature.  Man  is  de- 
pendent, and  his  individuality  must  bend  to  that  fact.  Perfect  natural 
liberty  means  liberty  in  accord  with  nature.  The  liberty  or  licentious- 
ness that  has  a  tendency  to  destroy  society  and  thereby  deprive 
man  of  social  intercourse,  which  nature  has  made  imperative  for  his 
development,  is  opposed  to  the  laws  of  nature,  opposed  to  God,  and 
is  therefore  wrong.  [Applause.  ] 

"  The  ability  of  society  to  fulfil  its  high  function  depends  almost 
wholly  upon  the  character  of  the  social  units.  This  hall  is  a  brick 
building.  The  unit  of  the  structure  is  the  individual  brick  in  the  wall. 
The  strength  of  the  building  depends  somewhat  upon  its  form  and  the 
work  done  upon  it  ;  but  all  architectural  calculation  is  based  upon  the 
strength  and  durability  of  the  material  which  is  used.  Suppose  that  the 


184  THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

architect  had  drawn  the  plan,  the  masterworkman  and  masons  been 
ready  to  do  good  work  when  the  material  came,  and  an  examination  of 
the  material  had  shown  it  to  be  poor,  weak,  soft,  would  the  men  have 
gone  forward  with  the  building  ?  No  !  The  strength  of  the  building 
depends  upon  the  strength  of  the  material,  and  it  would  be  worse  than 
useless  to  erect  a  building  of  weak,  poor  material.  If  it  would  be  use- 
less to  erect  a  building  of  poor  material,  would  it  not  be  criminal  to 
allow  persons  to  weaken  and  destroy  the  material  of  a  building  already 
erected  when  its  destruction  means  the  destruction  of  the  building  and 
the  thwarting  of  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  erected  ?  [Applause.] 

"  Society  is  a  structure  ;  its  material,  reasonable,  ethical  human 
beings.  Any  business  or  custom  which  develops  or  strengthens  the 
God-nature  of  man  develops  and  strengthens  society,  of  which  he  is  a 
part,  and  the  reverse  of  the  picture  is  equally  true.  Any  business  or 
custom  which  develops  the  animal  nature  of  man  at  the  expense  of  the 
intellectual  God-nature  weakens  and  degrades  society.  To  fulfil  its 
mission  society — mankind  as  a  whole — must  establish  and  maintain  in- 
stitutions and  customs  necessary  for  man's  development,  comfort,  and 
happiness. 

"  Trade  is  a  social  institution,  born  of  society,  developed  by  society, 
and  subject  to  society,  to  assist  in  promoting  the  interests  that  necessi- 
tate society.  [Applause.] 

"  This  statement  of  fundamental  truths  leads  to  the  axiom  :  '  The  use 
of  alcoholic  liquors  in  all  ages  and  nations  has  been  proportionate  to 
the  public  popular  facilities  for  obtaining  the  same, '  or,  in  other  words, 
on  the  open  alcoholic  liquor  trade.  The  alcoholic  liquor  trade  is  a 
social  institution  subject  to  the  social  law  governing  all  trade — viz.,  to 
assist  in  promoting  the  interests  that  necessitate  society.  True,  millions 
of  dollars  are  invested  in  it,  and  thousands  of  men  depend  upon  it  for  a 
livelihood  ;  biit  its  magnitude  only  gives  it  greater  power  to  do  evil,  if 
its  results  are  evil.  It  is  entitled  to  the  same  protection  from  society  as 
other  trades,  if  its  work  produces  the  same  social  results  as  other  trades. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  185 

Only  gravest  charges,  fully  sustained,  can  justify  its  destruction  ;  but  if 
charges  sufficient  are  sustained,  its  very  magnitude  must  bar  the  dealers 
from  pleading  the  '  baby  act '  as  an  excuse  for  their  crimes.  [Applause.] 
The  traffic  is  the  act  of  the  dealer,  and  if  it  is  evil  it  is  his  crime  ;  and  to 
talk  of  the  crimes  of  the  traffic  is  nonsense.  The  traffic  is  itself  a  crime  ; 
the  dealer  can  only  be  held  responsible  for  his  traffic  as  shown  by  its 
results,  but  he  must  come  into  the  people's  court  and  answer  for  them. 
[Loud  applause.]  The  open  bar-room,  exposing  the  supply  of  liquors 
with  tempting  signs  and  alluring  accompaniments,  constantly  creates  a 
demand  where  no  demand  existed  before.  Two  men  passing  along  the 
street,  with  no  thought  of  drinking,  see  the  tempting  sign,  and  step  into 
the  public  popular  place  and  drink  ;  not  that  they  care  to  drink,  but  to 
be  social.  Several  young  men  enter  a  saloon  to  play  billiards.  They 
do  not  care  for  liquor,  but  '  when  they  are  with  Komans  they  must  do 
as  Romans  do,'  and  they  drink  to  be  social.  The  business,  outlawed 
and  driven  into  holes,  would  be  followed  by  the  victims  it  had  already 
ruined  and  chained,  but  not  by  the  boys  of  the  land  who  care  nothing 
for  drink. 

"  Drinking,  in  its  incipiency,  is  the  result  of  social  customs  ;  in  its 
advanced  stages,  of  diseased  nervous  and  muscular  conditions,  which 
create  an  unnatural  craving,  falsely  called  an  appetite.  The  treatment 
of  the  victim  as  an  individual  is  one  part  of  the  work  of  the  reform,  but 
the  fact  of  his  relation  to  society,  and  society's  relation  to  him,  must 
not  be  lost  sight  of.  If  alcoholic  drinks  injure  the  user,  then  they  in- 
jure mankind  as  a  whole — society — of  which  the  user  is  a  part,  and  it  is 
a  matter  of  self-defence  for  society  to  discourage  their  use.  Granted  the 
effects  of  alcoholic  drinks  on  the  habitual  user  are,  primarily,  muscular 
and  nervous  degeneration  and  disease  ;  secondarily,  weakened  intellect, 
sensibility,  and  will,  and  it  follows  that  the  individual  thus  injured, 
being  a  social  unit,  society  must  suffer  from  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  ; 
and  that  the  public  bar-room,  by  stimulating  the  use,  becomes  an  enemy 
to  society,  and  therefore  subject  to  trial,  conviction,  and  destruction. 


186  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

[Applause.]  Society  tries  men  for  their  acts — institutions  for  their  re- 
sults. If  the  liquor  traffic  builds  up  its  customer  socially,  morally, 
intellectually,  and  financially,  no  argument  can  justify  its  overthrow  ; 
but  if  it  tears  down  its  customer  socially,  morally,  intellectually,  and 
financially,  no  sophistry  can  justify  society  in  continuing  it.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

"  I  hope  I  have  liquor-dealers  before  me  to-day,  and  if  so  they  will 
please  correct  me  if  I  misstate  the  results  of  their  traffic.  Four  work- 
men were  paid  off  last  night.  Each  received  twenty-five  dollars.  On 
the  way  home  one  spent  a  large  part  of  his  money  in  a  dry-goods  store, 
one  in  a  boot  and  shoe  store,  one  in  a  hardware  store,  and  the  other 
commenced  last  night,  and  is  continuing  to-day,  to  spend  it  in  a  saloon. 
Each  of  these  men  has  a  family  to  provide  for  and  educate.  Next  Wed- 
nesday we  will  visit  the  homes  of  these  men.  We  enter  the  home  of  the 
man  who  spent  his  money  with  the  dry-goods  merchant,  and  ask  what 
his  family  received  in  exchange  for  his  hard-earned  dollars.  His  wife 
would  show  us  the  new  dresses,  and  say  :  '  We  needed  the  clothes,  the 
merchant  needed  the  money,  so  we  traded  ' — an  exchange  of  values 
benefiting  both  parties.  The  same  answer,  simply  varied  to  the  article 
purchased,  would  be  given  by  the  wives  of  the  men  who  traded  at  the 
boot  and  hardware  stores  ;  but  when  we  enter  the  home  of  the  saloon 
customer  to  ask,  the  misery,  wretchedness,  and  poverty  would  answer 
before  the  lips  could  utter  the  question.  The  saloon  takes  material 
values  from  the  customer,  and  returns  something  worse  than  nothing. 
Far  better  for  the  man  if  they  had  simply  robbed  him,  for  then  he  would 
have  had  a  clear  head  and  sound  muscles  to  go  on  and  provide  for  his 
family,  while  by  selling  him  liquor  he  is  temporarily  unfitted  for  work, 
and  sent  home  a  maddened  brute  to  abuse  and  insult  those  he  should 
love  and  protect.  [Is  not  society  bound  to  protect  those  helpless  ones 
from  the  outrages  of  both  drinker  and  seller  ?]  To  illustrate  more  fully, 
let  me  ask  a  liquor-dealer  a  hypothetical  question  :  Mr.  Dealer,  suppose 
a  young  man,  standing  high  in  social  and  business  circles,  commenced 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  187 

to  patronize  you  to-day,  and  does  so  for  the  next  ten  years,  all  the  while 
increasing  the  time  spent  daily  in  your  saloon  and  the  money  spent  at 
your  bar.  At  the  end  of  the  ten  years,  what  will  you  have  done  for  that 
man  in  return  for  all  the  money  and  time  he  has  given  you  ?  Must  not 
the  dealer  answer  :  '  He  would  have  been  better  socially,  morally,  intel- 
lectually, and  financially  if  he  had  never  entered  a  saloon.'  Another, 
please  :  Suppose  a  man  with  a  family  patronizes  you  the  same  way  and 
for  the  same  time,  what  will  you  do  for  his  family  in  return  for  the 
father's  money  and  time  ?  The  answer  must  be  :  '  The  family  would 
have  been  better  off,  and  the  children  had  a  better  chance  for  manhood 
and  womanhood,  if  the  father  had  never  entered  a  saloon.'  No  liquor- 
dealer  dare  deny  that  the  whole  tendency  of  the  saloon  is  to  degrade  its 
customers.  [Applause.]  The  bar-room,  under  whatever  name,  is  a 
nursery  where  criminals  and  paupers  are  bred — a  cradle  where  vice  is 
fondled  and  rocked.  [Applause.]  Its  path  through  the  ages  is  stained 
with  blood  and  tears,  and  made  horrible  by  the  countless  skeletons  of 
its  victims,  who,  decoyed  by  its  influence  from  the  up-hill  path  of  denial 
and  duty  into  the  by-way  of  sensual  pleasure  and  drunkenness,  have 
then  been  dragged,  by  the  cravings  of  diseased  bodies,  in  disgrace  and 
madness  to  dishonored  death.  Judged  by  its  own  record,  the  traffic  is  a 
curse  to  all  the  higher  elements  of  manhood  and  womanhood,  a  disgrace 
to  our  Christian  civilization,  and  an  ulcer  on  the  nation's  life.  [Ap- 
plause.] 

"  That  the  liquor  traffic,  and  the  men  engaged  in  it,  constantly  out- 
rage that  part  of  society  not  engaged  in  the  traffic  follows  from  what  we 
have  stated,  and  the  punishment  and  destruction  of  the  traffic  must 
come  from  the  society  founded  on  the  relations  of  right — the  State.  It 
is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  destroy  this  traffic,  and  thereby  prevent  its 
results.  [Applause.] 

"The  liquor  traffic,  being  a  social  institution,  has  no  private  rights, 
but  ig  responsible  to  its  creator —mankind,  society— for  its  acts.  The 
State  must  not  only  guard  its  own  life  by  preventing  the  traffic  from 


188  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

debauching  the  units  of  society,  but  as  an  institution  of  justice  it  must 
protect  innocent  third  parties  from  the  wrongs  of  the  seller  and  buyer. 
The  wife  and  babies  of  the  drinker,  the  taxpayer  and  sober  men  liable 
to  be  assaulted  by  drunkards,  must  be  protected.  To  try  to  settle  this 
issue  by  simply  taking  into  consideration  the  seller  and  drinker  indi- 
cates a  shallow  mind  and  narrow  thinker.  [Applause.]  To  say  the 
Government  cannot  destroy  a  social  institution  that  is  an  enemy  of 
society  is  to  deny  the  capacity  of  man  for  self-government,  and  no 
loyal  citizen  will  thus  challenge  the  strength  and  value  of  Republican 
institutions.  [Applause.] 

"  To  conform  to  these  fundamental  truths,  and  meet  the  enemy  at  all 
points,  the  leaders  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  broad- 
ened their  movement,  and  instead  of  the  single  line  of  attack  on  the 
saloon,  pressed  the  battle  on  the  line  of  evangelistic  work,  juvenile 
work,  prison  and  police  work,  work  among  the  intemperate,  Bible  work 
among  the  Germans,  suffrage  work,  scientific  work,  work  with  the  col- 
ored people,  work  in  the  kitchen  garden,  circulation  of  temperance  liter- 
ature, work  with  the  soldiers  and  sailors,  work  in  the  Sunday-school, 
and  many  other  lines  I  have  not  time  to  mention — all  tending  to  the 
destruction  of  the  alcoholic  liquor  traffic. 

"  Because  they  have  thus  changed,  and  propose  to  destroy  the  traffic 
by  developing  public  intelligence  to  a  point  where  public  opinion,  crys- 
tallized into  public  will — law — shall  prevent  the  traffic,  instead  of  fol- 
lowing the  defective  methods  of  the  crusade  to  accomplish  the  same 
thing,  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  issued  his  bull  of  December  23d  against  them,  and 
that  bull,  at  the  request  of  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Woodbridge,  of  Ohio,  I  am  here 
to  examine  and  answer. 

''  Until  I  undertook  this  task,  I  never  realized  the  truth  of  Lincoln's 
saying,  '  It  strains  a  man  terribly  to  kick  at  nothing. '  [Applause.]  A 
close  examination  of  Dr.  Lewis's  speech  shows  that  he  bases  his  attack 
upon  the  policy  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  upon  three 
propositions : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  189 

"  1.  The  distinction  between  crime  and  vice. 

"  2.  The  failure  of  prohibition. 

1 '  Personal  liberty. 

"  Let  us  examine  them  in  their  order,  because  he  says  : 

"  '  Upon  the  distinction  between  vice  and  crime  hinges  the  whole 
theme  of  prohibition.  No  one  can  intelligently  consider  this  important 
subject  except  in  clear  view  of  this  distinction  ; '  and  if  his  distinction 
is  wrong  his  whole  argument  fails. 

"  I  do  not  desire  to  put  words  which  misrepresent  him  into  his 
mouth,  as  he  constantly  does  into  the  mouths  of  Prohibitionists  ;  so  I 
will  read  from  his  speech  his  definition  of  crime  and  vice.  He  says  : 

"  '  Our  errors  may  be  divided  into  vices  and  crimes.  A  vice  is  a  harm 
I  do  to  myself  in  a  mistaken  pursuit  of  happiness.  A  crime  is  a  harm  I 
do  to  another  person  with  malice  prepense.  Without  this  malice  prepense, 
or  criminal  purpose,  there  can  be  no  crime.' 

' '  To  be  sure,  I  understood  his  definition,  I  examined  his  book,  '  Pro- 
hibition a  Failure,'  and  find  the  same  statement  in  different  words.  He 
wrote  : 

"  '  A  crime  must  possess  three  features  : 

"  '  1.  There  must  be  at  least  two  persons— the  actor  and  the  victim. 

" '  2.  The  act  must  be  committed  with  evil  intent. 

"  '  3.  The  act  must  be  committed  without  the  consent  of  the  victim.' 

"  '  If  either  of  these  features  be  absent  the  act  is  nol  a  crime.' 

"  Having  given  his  definition,  he  lays  down  as  the  basis  of  his  argu- 
ment : 

"  '  All  crimes,  large  and  small,  are  justly  punished  by  force  or  law. 
All  vices,  large  and  small,  must  be  treated  by  reason  and  persuasion." 

"  It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  a  man  talking  from  a  Christian  stand- 
point should  omit  from  the  list  of  errors  '  sin,'  as  all  writers  on  ethics 
group  crime,  sin,  vice  ;  but  one  pauses  astonished  at  his  definition  and 
its  manifest  absurdity. 

"  A  man  alone  in  a  wild  forest  and  country  could  injure  only  himself, 


190  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

and  his  errors  would  be  sins,  because,  alone  with  himself  and  his  God, 
anything  he  does  that  is  not  in  violation  of  Divine  Law  as  revealed  in 
the  Bible  or  written  in  his  own  being  is  right.  When  man  is  consid- 
ered as  a  social  being,  he  is  seen  to  be  subject  to  rules  of  conduct  which 
condemn  and  prevent  many  acts,  customs,  and  habits  which  he  would 
have  a  perfect  right  to  do  or  practise  if  he  were  considered  as  living  by 
himself  and  for  himself.  His  social  right  to  be  educated,  to  be  pro- 
tected, to  have  bis  property  defended,  to  have  his  loved  ones  protected, 
takes  with  it  the  duty  to  see  that  others  have  the  same  rights,  and  to 
do  nothing  to  prevent  others  from  enjoying  the  same  rights.  Certain 
habits,  customs,  or  acts  of  his  may  tend  to  injure  the  rights  of  others. 
To  prevent  such  injury,  and  to  determine  his  rights  and  duties  as  a 
social  being,  man  has  established  an  institution  of  justice — the  State. 
It  is  evident  that  there  must  be  some  standard  by  which  to  judge  acts, 
customs,  and  habits.  Dr.  Lewis  lays  down  an  arbitrary  rule.  What 
right  has  he  to  lay  down  a  rule  ?  He  says  :  '  It  is  the  distinction  of 
common-sense.1  Whose  common-sense  ?  Is  Dr.  Lewis's  common-sense 
infallible,  and  must  the  world  accept  its  definition  when  the  common- 
sense  of  the  world  says,  '  It  is  nonsense  '  ?  The  common-sense  and  con- 
science of  individual  man  cannot  be  trusted  in  determining  his  own 
social  duty.  The  standard  must  be  the  common- sense  of  the  people 
formulated  in  public  opinion  written  and  unwritten.  [Applause.  ]  By 
this,  habits,  acts,  and  customs  are  judged  and  classified  as  right  and 
wrong.  The  wrong  acts,  habits,  customs  are  graded  by  their  results  as 
vices  and  crimes.  There  is  and  can  be  no  arbitrary  rule  defining  what 
is  vice  and  what  is  crime.  Public  opinion  alone  determines  ;  and  as 
public  opinion  changes,  the  definition  changes.  The  thing  which  was 
not  even  a  vice  yesterday  may  be  a  crime  to-day.  Public  opinion  crys- 
tallized into  public  will — law — defines  what  is  crime  ;  public  opinion  in 
the  unwritten  law  of  morals  based  on  Divine  Law  takes  cognizance  of 
acts,  customs,  and  habits  which  the  people,  though  considering  bad,  do 
not  consider  dangerous  enough  to  be  prohibited  as  crimes.  Then 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  191 

'  morals  relate  to  the  practice,  manners,  or  conduct  of  men  as  social 
beings  in  relation  to  each  other,  as  respects  right  and  wrong.' 

"  Webster  defines  vice  as  '  A  moral  fault  or  failing  ;  especially  immoral 
conduct  or  habit. ' 

"  Worcester  defines  vice  as  '  Opposite  to  virtue,  an  offence  against 
morality,  or  the  violation  of  the  moral  law.' 

"  Lewis  says  :  '  Vice  is  a  harm  I  do  myself  in  a  mistaken  pursuit  of 
happiness,'  and  presumed  the  people  were  ignorant  enough  to  believe 
him  when  he  said  :  '  This  is  the  distinction  of  the  dictionary.'  Ex- 
amine his  definition  closely.  If  a  young  man  should  freeze  his  feet 
while  going  to  see  his  girl,  it  would  be  a  vice.  If  a  man  resting  on  a 
bluff  to  enjoy  the  air  should  fall  and  break  his  arm,  it  would  be  a  vice. 
If  a  man  going  to  Europe  to  study  should  be  shipwrecked,  it  would  be  a 
vice.  [Applause.]  The  public  would  hold  any  pursuit  which  injured 
the  man  to  be  a  mistaken  one,  and  who  is  to  say  whether  or  not  the  pur- 
suit was  a  mistaken  one '? 

"  If  Lewis's  definition  of  vice  is  foolish,  his  definition  of  crime  is  in- 
famous. 

"  Webster  defines  crime  as  '  Any  violation  of  law,  either  human  or 
Divine  ;  an  omission  of  duty  which  is  commanded,  or  the  commission 
of  an  act  which  is  forbidden  by  law.' 

"  Worcester  defines  crime  as  '  An  infraction  of  law,  but  particularly 
of  human  law,  and  so  distinguished  from  (not  opposed  to)  sin  ;  an 
offence  against  society  or  against  morals  as  far  as  they  are  amenable  to 
the  laws.' 

"Bouvier's  Law  Dictionary  defines  crime  as  'An  act  committed  or 
omitted  in  violation  of  a  public  law  forbidding  or  commanding  it.1 

"  Blackstone  defines  crime  as  '  An  act  committed  or  omitted  in  viola- 
tion of  a  public  law.' 

"  The  courts  hold  :  '  The  vital  and  preserving  principle  has  been 
adopted  that  all  immoral  acts  which  tend  to  the  prejudice  of  the  com- 
munity are  punishable  criminally  by  courts  of  justice,'  and  they  define 


192  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

crime  as  '  A  wrong  •which  the  Government  notices  as  injurious  to  the  public, 
and  punishes  in  what  is  known  as  a  criminal  proceeding.' 

"  The  scholar  knows  that  '  crime  '  is  derived  from  Latin,  crimen,  a 
judicial  decision,  and  must  mean  an  act  committed  or  omitted  in  viola- 
tion of  law. 

"  Dr.  Lewis  says  :  '  Crime  is  a  harm  I  do  another  person  with  malice 
prepense.  Without  malice  prepense  or  criminal  purpose  there  can  be  no 
crime,'  and  as  in  his  definition  of  vice,  presumes  that  the  people  are 
ignorant,  and  says  :  '  This  is  the  definition  of  the  courts. ' 

"  Any  man  of  ordinary  intelligence  could  have  told  the  doctor  that 
malice  prepense  is  not  necessary  to  constitute  crime.  If  Dr.  Lewis 
should  go  to  Nebraska,  and  being  entirely  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  that 
State,  should  shoot  a  prairie  chicken  in  the  month  of  June,  he  would 
be  arrested  as  a  criminal  and  punished,  and  his  ignorance  of  the  law 
and  innocence  of  all  criminal  intent  would  be  no  defence.  The  courts 
hold  that  ignorance  of  law  is  no  defence,  that  every  man  should  and  is 
supposed  to  know  what  the  laws  are.  If  Dr.  Lewis  was  a  switch-tender, 
and  should  thoughtlessly  leave  the  switch  open,  and  a  train  be  wrecked 
as  the  result  of  his  carelessness,  he  would  be  tried  and  punished,  and  it 
would  be  no  defence  to  say  he  did  not  intend  to  do  it. 

"If  a  patient  suffering  from  pain,  and  certain  to  die  in  an  hour,  should 
ask  Dr.  Lewis  to  give  him  something  to  end  his  life,  and  the  doctor 
should  give  it,  the  law  would  try  and  punish  him  for  murder. 

"  If  Dr.  Lewis  in  a  fit  of  anger  should  strike  a  friend  and  kill  him,  it 
would  be  no  defence  to  urge  that  he  did  not  intend  to  kill,  although  it 
would  reduce  the  grade  of  the  crime.  [Applause.] 

"  Take  his  definition  and  apply  it  :  '  The  act  must  be  committed  with 
malice  prepense  and  without  the  consent  of  the  victim  ' ;  then  it  follows 
that  an  act  committed  without  malice  and  with  the  consent  of  the  victim 
is  not  crime.  This  would  take  polygamy,  prostitution,  fornication, 
gambling,  adultery,  lotteries,  etc.,  out  of  the  list  of  crimes  and  the 
domain  of  law,  because  all  these  offences  are  committed  with  the  con- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  193 

sent  of  both  parties,  and  Dr.  Lewis  says  :  '  If  either  of  these  features 
are  lacking  there  is  no  crime.' 

"  With  Dr.  Lewis  as  law-giver,  if  a  man  should  seduce  your  daughter 
it  would  not  be  a  crime,  because  she  gave  her  consent  ;  if  a  man  should 
win  your  son's  money  by  gambling  it  would  not  be  crime,  because  he 
gave  his  consent.  You  should  not  prosecute  the  seducer  or  gambler 
criminally,  because  Dr.  Lewis  says  :  '  All  vices,  large  and  small,  must 
be  treated  by  reason  and  persuasion. '  The  doctrine  enunciated  by  Dr. 
Lewis  is  the  doctrine  of  free-love,  polygamy,  anarchy  ;  and  if  it  became 
the  controlling  doctrine  would  make  America  a  rascal's  paradise. 

"  Examine  his  illustrations  and  you  will  see  how  utterly  he  fails  to 
comprehend  his  subject.  He  says  : 

"  '  No  man  commits  a  crime  until  his  nature  has  been  poisoned  and 
demoralized  by  vice.' 

"  Every  person  knows  the  records  of  the  courts  show  thousands  of 
cases  of  men  who  have  always  been  moral  men  up  to  the  time  when  pas- 
sion or  weakness  led  them  to  commit  crime.  He  says  : 

"  '  The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  declared  it  to  be  a  crime  to  help  the  pant- 
ing fugitive.  No  good  man  believed  it  was  a  crime  to  conceal  and  feed 
him.' 

"  The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  attacked  by  the  Abolitionists,  simply 
because  it  contravened  what  they  considered  to  be  God's  law,  and  they 
held  that  when  human  law  defined  as  a  crime,  what  God's  law  declared 
to  be  right,  the  higher  law  must  prevail.  Will  Dr.  Lewis  claim  that  a 
law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors  contravenes  God's  law  ? 
and  does  he  follow  the  proposition  that  if  human  law  cannot  make 
wrong,  what  God  in  His  revealed  law,  written  in  the  Bible,  and  His  nat- 
ural law,  written  in  man's  body,  has  declared  right,  so  human  law  cannot 
make  right,  what  God  in  the  same  way  has  declared  wrong  ?  St.  Louis 
passed  laws  legalizing  prostitution,  but  that  did  not  make  prostitution 
right.  New  York  has  a  law  making  the  liquor  traffic  legal,  but  that  does 
not  make  it  right,  because  license  laws  contravene  God's  natural  and  re- 


194  TSE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCS. 

vealed  laws  for  man's  development  as  asocial  being.  [Applause.]  He 
says  : 

"  '  Man  steps  in  to  punish  his  fellow-man  when  these  vices  develop 
into  crimes.' 

"  Man  as  man  never  punishes  his  fellow-man.  Society,  that  the  trans- 
gressor helped  form,  punishes  him  for  doing  what  he,  by  regulations  that 
he  as  a  social  unit  helped  to  adopt,  prohibited  individuals  from  doing. 
To  illustrate  : 

"  Who  is  to  say  when  the  vice  becomes  a  crime  ?  He  says  :  '  A  vice 
can  never  be  a  crime. '  Who  is  to  determine  when  it  ceases  to  be  a  vice 
and  becomes  a  crime  ?  Public  opinion  crystallizes  into  public  will — 
law — and  this  constantly  changes  and  depends  upon  the  intelligence  and 
moral  sentiment  of  the  community.  Bouvier  says  :  '  With  regard  to 
adultery,  polygamy,  and  drunkenness,  in  some  communities  they  are 
regarded  as  heinous,  mala  in  se/  while  in  others,  owing  to  perversion  of 
moral  sentiment  by  prejudice,  education,  and  custom,  they  are  not  even 
mala  prohibita.'  The  distinction  between  vice  and  crime  then  depending 
upon  public  sentiment,  the  expression  of  that  sentiment  must  determine 
it,  and  fix  its  punishment. 

"He  says^;- 

"  '  When,  in  the  field  of  human  conduct,  the  law  has  punished  crime 
and  legal  nuisances,  it  is  done.  Public  sentiment,  infinitely  more  potent 
and  vital  than  law,  of  which  the  greatest  general  of  modern  times  de- 
clared, "  I  care  little  for  the  armies  of  Europe,  but  tremble  in  the  pres- 
ence of  its  public  sentiment " — this  public  sentiment,  the  synthetic  out- 
come of  social,  moral,  and  religious  forces,  all-pervading  and  irresistible, 
will  control  all  other  departments  of  human  life.' 

"  What  is  law  ?  Public  opinion  crystallized  into  public  will.  Who 
passes  laws  ?  The  Legislature.  Who  elect  the  Legislature  ?  The  people 
and  the  Legislature  express  public  sentiment.  Law  is  one  of  the  ways 
in  which  public  sentiment  expresses  itself,  and  to  distinguish  between 
law  and  public  sentiment,  and  make  one  independent  of  the  other,  is  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  195 

show  the  ignorance  of  the  person  who  attempts  it.  [Applause.]  In  the 
field  of  human  conduct  law  defines  duty,  when  it  says  man  shall  serve 
on  a  jury,  serve  in  the  militia,  pay  poll  tax,  etc.  It  defines  property 
rights,  provides  for  schools,  and  does  a  thousand  and  one  things  to  better 
the  condition  of  the  people  and  prevent  crime.  Think  of  a  man  of  intel- 
ligence saying  :  '  The  province  of  law  is  to  punish  crime  and  legal 
nuisances.' 

"  In  his  defence  of  the  grog-shop,  he  constantly  justifies  the  seller 
because  the  buyer  consents  to  the  transaction.  Society  does  not  at- 
tack the  traffic,  because  it  works  against  the  individual  as  an  immortal 
soul,  but  because  it  injures  mankind  as  a  whole  by  injuring  the  in- 
dividual as  a  social  unit  ;  and  it  holds  the  liquor-dealer  responsible 
for  injuring  society  by  injuring  the  social  unit.  The  wife  and  babies  of 
the  drinker,  the  pocketbook  of  the  tax-payer,  and  public  order  are  to 
be  protected,  and  it  is  no  defence  for  the  dealer,  responsible  to  society, 
to  plead  that  the  man  he  made  drunk  wanted  to  get  drunk.  The  con- 
sent of  the  drinker  does  not  release  the  seller  from  responsibility  fdr  the 
results  of  his  traffic.  The  dealer  is  a  social  being.  He  is  responsible  to 
society.  He  is  not  compelled  to  enter  the  liquor  trade.  If  he  does  so, 
it  is  of  his  own  free  will,  and  to  release  him  from  responsibility  because 
his  customer  wished  to  buy,  would  release  the  gambler,  the  keeper  of 
the  house  of  ill-fame,  the  manager  of  lotteries,  and  the  printer  of  obscene 
literature.  [Applause.] 

"  But  as  one  does  not  need  to  demonstrate  that  two  and  two  make 
four,  so  one  does  not  need  to  take  time  to  expose  his  foolish  definition 
of  crime  and  vice.  It  is  contradicted  by  the  dictionaries,  courts  of  law, 
and  the  common-sense  of  an  intelligent  people.  [Applause.] 

"  In  his  second  proposition,  '  Prohibition  a  Failure,'  he  presents 
nothing  new.  It  is  the  argument  that  has  been  used  by  the  liquor-dealers 
for  years.  He  writes  from  the  standpoint  of  ten  years  ago,  beyond  which 
point  he  has  not  advanced. 

"  It  must  be  remembered — 


196  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  1.  That  during  the  Civil  "War,  while  public  attention  was  taken  up 
with  the  great  question  of  national  existence,  the  drunkenness  and  im- 
morality resulting  from  the  war  enabled  the  illicit  liquor-sellers  in  sev- 
eral States  to  destroy  prohibitory  laws,  and  in  other  States  to  prevent 
their  enforcement,  until  the  excitement  of  the  '  Reconstruction  period ' 
passed,  and  a  moral  reaction  came.  To  say  that  during  that  period 
liquor-sellers  were  able  to  destroy  prohibitory  laws  and  defy  their  en- 
forcement, is  not  an  argument  against  the  law,  but  an  argument  against 
the  patriotism  of  liquor-sellers. 

"  2.  That  Prohibitionists  do  not  claim  law  will  accomplish  the  whole 
work,  any  more  than  the  law  against  adultery  will  make  men  moral,  or 
the  law  against  gambling  will  make  men  honest.  They  simply  claim  : 
'  It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  make  it  easy  for  men  to  be  good,  difficult 
for  men  to  be  bad.'  In  no  States  where  prohibition  has  been  adopted 
have  temperance  workers  given  up  the  work  of  picking  up  fallen  men 
and  educating  public  sentiment. 

"3.  In  a  State  where  license  is  granted,  public  sentiment  will  not 
justify  punishing  the  drinker  and  not  the  seller.  The  rule  of  arrests  in 
license  cities  is  :  '  Arrest  no  drunken  man  until  he  is  helpless  or  disturbs 
the  public.1  In  these  cities  the  drinker  is  allowed  to  sleep  off  his  drunk 
in  the  bar-room  before  he  goes  on  the  street.  In  prohibitory  States 
where  public  sentiment  makes  it  a  crime  to  sell,  it  is  a  crime  to  get 
drunk.  There  is  no  place  where  the  drinker  can  sleep  off  his  drunk  ; 
the  dealer  dare  not  have  him  around,  as  it  would  lead  to  a  detection  of 
the  illicit  sale,  hence  drunkenness  in  a  prohibitory  city  or  State  is  seen, 
and  as  the  drunken  man  is  a  valuable  witness  against  an  outlaw,  he  is 
always  arrested.  Not  one  in  ten  of  the  men  who  get  drunk  in  license 
cities  are  arrested.  Not  one  in  ten  of  the  men  who  get  drunk  in  pro- 
hibitory cities  escapes  arrest.  One  might  as  well  argue  that  because 
there  has  been  during  the  past  year  more  arrests  for  gambling  in  Mis- 
souri, where  the  offence  is  a  felony,  than  in  New  York,  where  it  is  a 
misdemeanor,  the  law  making  gambling  a  felony  is  a  failure,  as  to  argue 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  197 

that  because  drunken  men  are  arrested  in  prohibitory  States,  prohibition 
is  a  failure.  A  public  sentiment  that  condemns  and  punishes  drunken- 
ness is  the  best  indication  of  the  success  of  the  law. 

"  Dr.  Lewis  attacks  the  working  of  the  law  in  Massachusetts,  and 
says  : 

"  '  There  were,  at  the  end  of  twenty-four  years  of  prohibition,  includ- 
ing those  drug-stores  where  drinks  could  be  purchased  without  difficulty, 
groceries,  many  of  which  sold  by  the  drink,  and  all  of  which  sold  by  the 
bottle — including  these,  with  the  saloons,  there  were  in  Boston  almost 
five  thousand  places  where  intoxicating  drinks  could  be  purchased  with- 
out let  or  hindrance. ' 

"  The  issue  raised  by  this  statement  is  one  of  fact. 

"  The  Constable  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  his  second  annual  report, 
says  :  '  Up  to  the  6th  of  November,  1867,  there  was  not  an  open  bar 
known  in  the  entire  State,  and  the  open  retail  liquor  traffic  had  almost 
entirely  ceased.' 

"  Mr.  Louis  Schade,  Agent  of  the  American  Brewers'  Congress,  says  : 
'  Had  our  friends  in  Massachusetts  been  free  to  carrj'  on  their  business, 
and  had  not  the  State  authorities  constantly  interfered,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  instead  of  showing  a  decrease  of  116,585  barrels  in  one  year,  they 
would  have  increased  at  the  same  rate  they  did  the  preceding  year.' 

' '  Hon.  Kobert  C.  Pitman,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court,  says  :  '  The 
law  was  repealed  for  its  efficiency.' 

"  If  you  have  any  doubt  as  to  which  you  shall  believe,  Dr.  Lewis  or 
the  other  eminent  men  quoted,  an  examination  of  the  doctor's  state- 
ments in  regard  to  Maine  may  help  you  to  determine.  He  grants  that 
personally  he  can  testify  to  the  success  of  the  law.  But  he  set  out  to 
prove  prohibition  a  failure,  and  says  : 

''  '  But  at  Augusta  I  obtained  a  recent  report  of  the  State  Prison  In- 
spectors of  Maine,  from  which  I  learned  that,  daring  the  year,  17,808 
persons  had  been  arrested  in  the  State  for  street  drunkenness.  This 
was  an  official  report,  by  prohibition  officers.' 


198  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  If  the  statement  were  true,  it,  for  the  reasons  before  given,  would 
not  prove  prohibition  a  failure.  An  examination  of  the  State  prison 
reports  of  Maine  convinced  me  it  was  not  true  ;  but  to  be  certain,  I 
wrote  to  the  State  Prison  Inspector  of  Maine,  and  he  replied  : 

"  '  AUGUSTA,  ME.,  January  30,  1884. 

" '  DEAR  SEB  :  In  reply  to  yours  of  the  28th  inst.,  asking  for  the  number 
of  arrests  for  drunkenness  last  year,  will  say  that  the  reports  of  the  in- 
spectors of  the  State  prisons  do  not  give  the  information  referred  to. 
During  my  term  of  service  no  such  information  has  been  given  in  our 
annual  reports,  and  I  may  add  it  is  no  part  of  our  duties  as  inspectors  of 
State  prisons  and  jails. 

" '  Very  respectfully, 

"  '  H.  S.  OSGOOD, 
"  '  One  of  the  Inspectors  of  Stale  Prisons  and  Jails.' 

"  You  ask  me  upon  what  Dr.  Lewis  could  base  his  statement?  I  find 
included  in  the  report  of  the  inspectors,  a  report  "f&in  the  jails  of  Maine, 
which  shows  the  total  number  of  commitments  lor  drunkenness  in  the 
entire  State  daring  1882,  to  have  been  EIGHT  HUNDKED  AND  NINE.  If  this 
is  what  Dr.  Lewis  meant,  he  should  have  used  the  last  report,  not  one 
ten  years  old.  To  refuse  to  use  the  figures  of  to-day,  because  they  con- 
tradict his  theory,  and  use  the  figures  of  ten  years  ago,  because  he  thinks 
they  sustain  his  theory,  does  not  speak  well  for  the  fairness  or  candor  of 
the  advocate. 

"  Notice  he  arraigns  prohibition  in  Maine  as  a  failure,  because  it  does 
close  the  saloons  ;  in  Massachusetts,  because  it  does  not. 

"  He  claims  that  closing  the  saloons,  increases  secret  drinking,  and  a 
worse  condition  than  open  saloons,  and  at  the  same  time  advocates  the 
Woman's  Crusade  to  close  the  saloons. 

"  Prohibition  wherever  honestly  tried  has  been  a  success,  and  never  in 
any  place  as  great  a  failure  as  license  laws.  Mr.  Lewis  might  as  well 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  199 

cite  the  case  of  Frank  James  in  Missouri,  to  prove  the  law  prohibiting 
murder  a  failure,  or  the  case  of  a  Mormon  in  Utah,  to  prove  the  law 
against  bigamy  a  failure,  as  to  cite  the  cases  of  Parker  and  Young  to 
prove  prohibition  a  failure.  The  facts  are,  that  on  one  of  the  juries  was 
a  liquor-dealer,  while  on  both  of  them  were  drinkers  who  were  custom- 
ers of  the  defendants.  Do  not  understand  me  to  say  Dr.  Lewis  wilfully 
misstated  the  facts,  but  that  in  his  anxiety  to  prove  prohibition  a  failure 
he  has  placed  himself  in  a  position  that  no  honest  seeker  after  truth 
should  occupy. 

"In  stating  his  third  proposition,  Dr.  Lewis  grants  that  his  other 
propositions  are  false  ;  for  if  prohibition  is  a  failure,  how  can  it  inter- 
fere with  personal  liberty  ?  How  can  a  failure  do  what  Dr.  Lewis  claims 
its  success  would  do  ? 

"  He  proceeds  to  define  terms  with  the  same  recklessness  as  before. 
He  says  : 

"  '  Personal  liberty  is  the  source  of  all  progress,  the  lever  of  all  con- 
quests, the  inspiration  of  all  achievements,  the  precious  jewel  of  the 


"  I  might  say,  personal  liberty  is  what  enables  the  murderer  to  kill, 
the  thief  to  steal,  the  villain  to  outrage  your  wife  and  daughter.  It  frees 
the  knife  of  the  assassin,  the  club  of  the  murderer,  the  cord  of  the 
strangler,  the  torch  of  the  incendiary.  It  has  been  the  inspiration  of 
debauchery,  vice,  and  crime,  the  curse  of  peaceable  men.  If  I  said  this 
I  should  be  as  near  right  as  he  is  in  his  statement.  What  is  true  per- 
sonal liberty  ?  He  indicates  it  when  he  says  : 

"  '  The  greatest  "  public  good  "  that  any  government  is  capable  of,  is  to 
secure  to  each  and  every  individual  the  full  and  free  enjoyment  of  all 
his  natural  rights  of  person  and  property.' 

"  By  natural  rights,  of  course  he  means  rights  in  accord  with  man's 
nature  as  a  social  being.  These  rights  are  to  be  secured  against  en- 
croachments by  other  individuals  ;  by  the  restraint  of  their  personal 
liberty  to  do  as  they  please,  to  take  what  they  please.  This  protection 


200  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

is  given  by  the  will  of  society — law  ;  without  law  there  is  no  true  liberty. 
In  the  words  of  a  great  thinker  (Dr.  Lieber)  : 

"  '  Liberty,  like  everything  else  o£  a  political  character,  necessary  and 
natural  to  man  and  to  be  striven  for,  arises  out  of  the  development  of 
society.  Man,  in  that  supposed  state  of  natural  liberty,  which  is  noth- 
ing but  a  roving  state,  is,  on  the  contrary,  in  a  state  of  great  submission. 
He  is  a  slave  and  servant  of  the  elements.  Matter  masters  his  mind. 
He  is  exposed  to  the  wrongs  of  every  enemy  from  without,  and  depend- 
ent upon  his  own  unregulated  mind.  That  is  not  liberty.  It  is  plain 
barbarism.  Liberty  is  materially  of  a  civil  character. 

"  '  Where  men  of  whatsoever  condition — rulers  or  ruled,  those  that 
toil  or  those  that  enjoy,  individually,  or  by  entire  classes  or  nations — 
claim,  maintain,  or  establish  rights  without  acknowledging  correspond- 
ing and  parallel  obligations,  there  is  oppression,  lawlessness,  and  dis- 
order, and  the  very  ground  on  which  the  idea  of  all  right  must  forever 
rest — the  ground  of  mutuality  or  reciprocity,  whether  considered  in  the 
light  of  ethics  or  natural  law,  must  sink  from  under  it.  It  is  natural, 
therefore,  that  wherever  there  exists  a  greater  knowledge  of  right  or 
more  intense  attention  to  it  than  to  concurrent  and  proportionate  obli- 
gations, evil  ensues.  What  may  there  be  found  d  priori  is  pointed  out 
by  history  as  one  of  its  gravest  and  greatest  morals.  The  very  condition 
of  right  is  obligation.  The  only  reasonableness  of  obligations  consists 
in  rights.  Since,  therefore,  a  greater  degree  of  civil  liberty  implies  the 
enjoyment  of  more  extended  acknowledged  rights,  man's  obligations 
increase  with  man's  liberty.  Let  us  then  call  that  freedom  of  action 
which  is  determined  and  limited  by  the  acknowledgment  of  obligation, 
liberty  ;  freedom  of  action  without  limitation  by  obligation,  licentious- 
ness. The  greater  the  liberty  the  more  the  duty.' 

"  The  statement  that  man  has  no  rights  as  a  member  of  society  that 
are  not  individual  rights,  he  would  find  to  be  nonsense  if  he  as  an  indi- 
vidual Christian  tried  to  vote  in  a  church  of  which  he  was  not  a  member 
or  in  a  State  where  he  was  an  alien. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  201 

"  The  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  not  an  interference  with  true 
personal  liberty,  and  as  Dr.  Lewis  does  not  say  it  is,  but  simply  implies 
it,  it  is  hard  to  imagine  why  he  introduced  the  subject. 

"  Thus,  it  is  plainly  seen  that  his  three  primary  propositions  fail  be- 
cause they  have  neither  principle  nor  fact  to  sustain  them  ;  consequently 
his  attack  upon  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  without 
cause.  The  motive  is  not  apparent,  but  the  liquor  papers  endorse  the 
speech,  and  that  interest  is  the  only  one  benefited  by  it. 

"  His  sneer  at  Prohibitionists — 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  Almighty  has  given  the  government  of  the  world 
into  the  hands  of  His  saints. 

"  *  Resolved,  That  we  are  His  saints — ' 

he  should  have  placed  in  quotation  marks,  and  I  must  say  it  is  below 
the  level  of  manly  discussion,  and  can  only  be  answered  by  saying  that 
any  man  who  would  stoop  to  such  a  fling  would  probably  start  in  this 
way  : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  Almighty  has  given  all  intelligence  to  one  man. 

"'Resolved,  I  am  the  man. '     [Applause.] 

' '  For  a  moment  let  us  glance  at  some  of  his  absurdities.     He  says : 

"  '  The  right  to  drink  includes  the  right  to  buy.' 

"  True,  but  does  not  include  the  right  to  compel  the  people  to  furnish 
a  man  to  sell.  The  right  to  cut  off  your  hand  does  not  include  the  right 
to  insist  that  government  shall  make  it  easy  for  you  to  get  the  axe. 
[Applause.]  Man's  right  to  degrade  and  ruin  himself  does  not  include 
the  right  to  insist  that  a  government  based  upon  his  intelligence  and 
manhood  shall  furnish  him  the  means  to  ruin  his  intelligence  and  man- 
hood. To  make  such  a  claim  is  to  claim  that  individual  man  has  a  right 
to'  make  the  Government  commit  suicide,  and  by  so  doing  fail  to  pro- 
tect the  interests  of  thousands.  [Applause.] 

"  He  defines  positively  '  a  legal  nuisance,'  and  uses  the  word  '  legal* 
in  speaking  of  rights.  Legal  rights  and  legal  nuisances  change  as  the 
law  defining  them  changes. 


202  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  A  '  legal '  nuisance  is  a  nuisance  declared  to  be  so  by  law.  Any- 
thing law  declares  to  be  a  nuisance  is  a  '  legal  '  nuisance.  If  law  declares 
the  grog-shop  a  nuisance,  it  is  a  '  legal  '  nuisance. 

' '  He  says  : 

"  '  We  have  as  clear  a  right  to  suppress  a  nuisance  as  to  defend  our- 
selves against  a  personal  assault. 

"  '  The  Salvation  Army  may  preach  the  strangest  absurdities — it  is  not 
a  legal  nuisance  ;  but  if  they  shout  in  the  streets  and  gather  a  crowd, 
even  while  preaching  the  most  sacred  truths,  it  is  a  nuisance. ' 

"  If  this  is  true,  how  does  he  defend  the  Woman's  Crusade,  for  the 
ladies  did  sing  and  pray  in  the  streets,  and  immense  crowds  gathered  ? 

"  He  says  : 

"  '  A  vigorous  prosecution  of  adulterations  would  give  such  a  blow  to 
the  liquor  traffic  in  a  year,  as  it  will  never  get  from  the  present  methods 
of  prohibition. ' 

"  Laws  against  the  adulteration  of  liquors  have  been  on  the  statute 
books  of  different  States  for  years,  and  have  proved  utterly  inoperative. 
If  Dr.  Lewis  believes  what  he  says,  why  does  he  not  go  to  work  and 
organize  a  movement  to  prosecute  adulterations  instead  of  wasting  his 
powers  by  attacking  the  policy  of  other  workers  ?  Does  he  mean  to  be 
understood  that  Prohibitionists  are  the  only  honest  workers,  when  he 
says : 

"  '  Prohibitionists  miss  their  great  opportunity  in  not  prosecuting 
adulterations  ? ' 

"  Why  not  anti-Prohibitionists  as  well  ?  If  Dr.  Lewis  believes  in  his 
theory,  why  does  he  not  put  it  in  practice  ?  He  has  large  means,  and 
all  good  men  will  co-operate  with  him.  If  he  can  only  prove  he  is  right, 
the  world  will  accept  his  theory.  I  find  no  record  of  any  attempt  of  his 
to  put  his  theory  in  practical  operation.  If  anti-Prohibitionists  are 
honest,  why  do  they  not  use  their  energies  in  making  their  theories 
work,  instead  of  attacking  workers  who  differ  from  them  ?  It  may  be 
well  enough  to  say  that  men  who  furnish  drunkard-makers  ammunition 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  203 

to  fire  at  the  homes  of  this  country  are  honest  men  in  thus  dealing  with 
this  question,  but  I  have  neither  sympathy  for,  nor  confidence  in  a  man 
whose  utterances  are  constantly  quoted  by  the  drunkard-makers  of  this 
country,  and  who  devotes  his  time  to  attacking  temperance  workers.  If 
he  is  an  honest  worker  the  liquor-sellers  will  fight,  not  quote  him.  A 
man  who  attacks  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  and  apolo- 
gizes for  liquor-sellers  is  not  the  kind  of  a  temperance  worker  this  coun- 
try needs  to-day. 

"  Notice  the  spirit  shown  throughout  his  entire  speech,  by  his  placing 
in  the  mouths  of  Prohibitionists  words  which  no  Prohibitionist  ever 
uttered  ;  and  then  having  set  up  a  man  of  straw,  proceed  to  knock  him 
down  '  with  great  power,  amid  the  laughter  of  the  audience, '  and  there  is  not 
a  drunkard-maker  in  New  York  City  who  would  not  laugh  at  and  applaud 
his  speech. 

"  But  his  most  laughable  blunder  is  when  he  tries  to  put  an  incorrect 
statement  in  the  mouth  of  a  Prohibitionist,  and  makes  one  in  answering 
it.  He  says  : 

'*  '  Another  Prohibitionist  speaks  of  an  old  maxim  :  "  The  public  good 
is  the  supreme  law."  I  have  never  heard  of  such  a  maxim,  but  I  have 
that  "  The  public  safety  is  the  supreme  law. "  ' 

"  The  maxim  is,  '  Salus  populi  suprema  lex,'  and  means  :  that  regard 
for  the  public  welfare  is  the  supreme  law.  The  courts  hold  :  '  This 
maxim  applies  to  cases  in  which  the  Legislatiire  ob  publicam  uttti- 
taten  sometimes  enacts  very  stringent  provisions  for  purposes  of  general 
public  good,  involving  great  restrictions  upon  particular  classes  of  men.' 

"  In  knocking  down  his  man  of  straw  he  makes  this  additional  blun- 
der :  '  The  only  object  and  duty  of  the  Legislature  is  to  protect  the 
rights  of  the  individuals  who  constitute  the  public.'  The  poorest  stu- 
dent in  the  science  of  government  knows  the  object  and  duty  of  the  Leg- 
islature is  to  formulate  public  opinion  into  public  will  ;  that  they  have 
no  power  or  authority  to  enforce  the  laws  they  pass  ;  that  they  cannot 
even  protect  themselves,  much  less  the  public,  and  that  enforcement  of 


204  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

law  and  protection  of  individuals  belongs  to  other  departments  of  gov- 
ernment. 

"  But  worse  than  anything  yet  noticed  is  the  false  assumption  upon 
which  his  whole  structure  of  reckless  statements  rests — viz.,  that  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  by  seeking  to  utilize  public  will 
— law — to  prevent  the  teaching  of  vice,  has  abandoned  religious  methods. 
The  assumption  is  false,  cowardly,  and  how  any  intelligent  man  can 
make  it,  passes  my  comprehension. 

"  The  religious  thought  of  the  crusade  was  faith  that  asked  God  to  do 
the  work  ;  the  religious  thought  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  is  faith  that  asks  God  to  direct  each  woman  to  use  all  the  powers 
He  has  given  her  to  stay  the  evils  of  intemperance,  and  trusts  Him  to 
do  what  is  beyond  her  power.  The  one  prayer  was :  '  Father,  on  our 
knees  we  plead  with  Thee  to  remove  this  plague.'  The  other  prayer  is  : 
'  Father,  use  us  and  guide,  and  direct,  and  help  us  to  remove  this 
plague.'  There  was  never  a  time,  in  all  the  history  of  this  wonderful 
movement,  when  woman  felt  more  her  dependence  on  God  than  at  the 
present  hour. 

"  As  I  stand  here  this  afternoon,  memory  turns  back  the  pages  of  the 
book  of  months,  and  I  stand  again  in  headquarters  at  Cleveland,  in  the 
midst  of  the  struggle  for  constitutional  outlawry  of  the  liquor  traffic.  I 
see  gathered  in  the  parlors  the  great  leader  and  her  aides.  I  listen  as 
the  voice  of  prayer  ascends,  asking  the  loving  Father  to  guide  and  direct. 
The  service  closes,  and  I  see  the  leader,  pale  and  worn  from  overwork, 
take  her  place  at  her  desk  to  write  her  assistants  in  the  field.  I  look 
over  her  shoulder  and  read.  She  is  writing  one  who,  with  weary  body 
and  brain,  is  homesick  for  wife  and  baby  living  in  a  distant  State.  She 
writes  :  '  Remember  we  never  forget  you  in  our  prayers.  May  God  give 
you  health  and  strength." 

"  Another  leaf  is  turned,  and  I  am  at  Belief ontaine,  0.,  in  the  State 
Convention  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  A  question 
on  which  members  differ  is  being  discussed.  The  debate  grows  warm, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  205 

and  something  like  bitterness  creeps  into  the  words.  How  quick  the 
leader's  ear  catches  the  sound,  and,  '  Ladies,  had  we  not  better  ask  God 
to  guide  us  in  this  matter?  Mrs.  Smith,  will  you  lead  us  in  prayer?  ' 
turns  the  discussion  back  into  the  channel  of  Christian  love  and  charity. 

"  Again,  the  turning  leaf  takes  me  to  Lake  Bluff,  and  in  the  soft  hush 
of  a  Sabbath  afternoon  I  listen  to  the  national  leader  of  the  movement 
— a  womanly  woman,  of  highest  culture  and  scholarly  attainments,  who 
has  given  up  the  comforts  of  home,  the  pleasant  companionship  of  her 
books,  the  society  of  loved  friends,  and  through  summer's  heat  and 
winter's  cold  toiled  on,  given  her  life,  her  all,  for  poor  fallen  humanity. 
'  "Why  has  she  done  this  ?  '  Listen,  while  lips  and  face  struggle  to  con- 
ceal her  emotion,  as  she  tells  how  her  call  to  her  work  came  in  the  dying 
words  of  an  idolized  sister  :  '  Frances,  tell  everybody  to  be  good.'  From 
the  meetings  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  which  I  have 
attended,  come  floating  to  me,  like  the  music  of  an  angelic  symphony, 
the  notes  of  woman's  prayer  and  faith  and  hope.  Surely  God  has  led 
and  directed  them. 

"  But  hark  !  the  music  is  interrupted  by  a  sound  like  a  cracked  cow- 
bell, which  says  : 

"  '  It  is  maddening  to  see  people  trying  to  push  into  the  arena  of 
social,  moral,  and  religious  struggles,  civil  law,  with  its  "  all  thumbs," 
and  neglect  agencies  a  thousand  times  stronger.' 

"  Dr.  Lewis  knows  that  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
has  not  abated  one  jot  or  tittle  of  its  religious  or  educational  work,  and 
in  his  effort  to  throw  distrust  on  their  present  work  and  parade  himself 
as  '  the  only  and  original  Christian  temperance  worker,'  his  language  in 
the  sentence  quoted  shows  the  ears  of  the  real  person,  '  Maddening.' 

"  What  Christian  patience  and  meekness !  Contrast  his  Christian 
meekness  and  humility  with  one  of  these  women  whom  he  criticises. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  Ohio  campaign,  Mrs.  Woodbridge,  the  great 
leader  of  the  Ohio  Woman' s  Christian  Temperance  Union,  wrote  me  : 
'  God  has  done  wonderful  things  in  Ohio.  All  praise  to  His  holy  name.' 


206-  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  Speaking  of  the  crusade,  Dr.  Lewis  says  : 

'"As  the  originator  of  the  "  Woman's  Crusade,  "I  have  made  a  deeper 
impression  upon  the  cause  of  temperance  than  has  been  made  by  any 
other  single  individual  upon  the  planet.' 

"  I  leave  it  to  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  to  say  whether  such  self- 
forgetfulness  and  self-abnegation  entitles  Dr.  Lewis  to  the  position  of  a 
religious  critic  of  the  noblest  band  of  women  the  world  ever  saw. 
[Laughter  and  applause.] 

"  But  I  have  already  taken  too  much  of  your  time  with  this  review,  of 
what  would  need  no  review  if  accident  had  not  placed  its  author  in  a 
position  where  his  utterances  might  be  mistaken  for  the  utterances  of  a 
temperance  man,  and  as  I  close,  you  may  ask  :  '  Will  prohibition  win  ?  ' 
During  the  Bellefontaine  Convention,  which  I  have  before  mentioned, 
I  was  returning  with  my  wife  to  the  hotel  from  a  session  of  the  conven- 
tion, when  she  said  :  '  Did  you  ever  think  that  when  a  principle  became 
a  part  of  the  religion  of  such  women,  the  only  way  to  kill  the  principle 
would  be  to  destroy  the  women  ?  '  There  was  a  time  when  the  temper- 
ance movement  was  largely  the  struggle  of  a  few  poor  victims  of  the 
traffic  to  free  themselves.  That  day  has  passed.  The  reform  has  be- 
come a  part  of  the  religious  faith  of  this  nation,  and  in  spite  of  all  the 
sophistries  and  work  of  the  drunkard-makers  and  their  aiders  and  abet- 
tors, the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  a  State  will  no  sooner  license  a 
man  to  carry  on  a  business  to  debauch  the  loved  ones  of  the  women  of 
this  land,  than  it  will  license  a  man  to  steal  the  jewels  from  their  jewel- 
cases.  [Applause.] 

"  The  time  will  come  when  the  children  of  the  man  who  now  wins 
the  approval  and  applaiise  of  the  drunkard-makers  by  attacking  these 
women  who  are  struggling  to  protect  their  homes  and  loved  ones,  will 
ask  his  biographer  to  leave  the  dark  page  out  of  the  record  of  an  other- 
wise useful  life."  [Loud  applause.] 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

GOOD   TEMPLAR   LEADERSHIP. 

"  Guard  the  Faith." 
"  Truth  shall  prevail." 

The  two  last  passwords  given  out  by  Mr.  finch. 

A  T  the  session  of  the  Grand  Lodge  held  in  the  city  of 
-£^~  Lincoln,  January  15th  and  16th,  18Y9,  Mr.  Finch 
was  unanimously  elected  to  the  office  of  Grand  Counsellor, 
the  second  office  in  the  gift  of  the  body.  At  the  same  ses- 
sion Mrs.  Finch  was  elected  General  Superintendent  of 
Juvenile  Temples,  and  during  the  following  five  months 
she  initiated  over  one  thousand  children  into  this  branch  of 
the  Order. 

Most  of  the  work  of  Mr.  Finch  during  the  year  which 
followed,  was  intended  to  direct  public  attention  to  the  con- 
stitutional amendment  plan  of  voting  out  the  liquor  busi- 
ness. While  continuing  pledge-signing  as  a  prominent 
feature  of  his  meetings,  he  gave  more  and  more  attention 
to  the  legal  aspects  of  the  question. 

Mrs.  Alice  A.  Minick  graphically  describes  an  incident 
in  the  work  at  Brown ville,  and  sums  up  some  of  the  bene- 
fits to  society  from  his  visit. 


208  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  In  January,  1879,  Mr.  Finch  delivered  nine  lectures  to  large  and 
attentive  audiences.  Hundreds  signed  the  iron-clad  pledge  and  wore 
the  red  ribbon  ;  the  Good  Templar  Lodge  was  strengthened  ;  a  strong 
Temple  of  Honor  was  organized,  and  a  city  library  and  reading-rooin 
established.  Mrs.  Finch  gathered  one  hundred  .and  twenty  children 
into  a  Juvenile  Temple  ;  afternoon  prayer-meetings  were  held,  in  which 
Mr.  Finch  and  the  clergymen  and  Christian  people  participated. 

"  The  lectures  were  given  in  a  hall  on  the  third  floor,  a  narrow  and 
steep  stairway  being  the  only  means  of  access.  On  the  evening  of  the 
last  lecture  the  hall  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity,  nearly  every  home 
in  Brownville  being  represented.  Mr.  Finch  appeared  full  of  that  force 
and  fire  which  had  won  the  hearts  of  the  people.  His  convincing  argu- 
ments were  greeted  with  frequent  applause. 

"  Suddenly  some  one  cried, '  Fire  !  fire  !    The  building  is  on  fire  ! ' 

"  A  panic  followed.  Strong  men  guarded  the  door  to  prevent  loss  of 
life  by  crowding  the  narrow  stairway.  Mothers  and  children  wept  to- 
gether. Some  knelt  in  prayer,  others  fainted,  and  a  few  attempted  to 
leap  from  the  windows,  while  some  despairing  ones  begged  Mr.  Finch 
to  save  them.  Above  the  din  and  confusion  of  the  surging  crowd  his 
clarion  voice  could  be  heard  urging  the  people  to  be  calm.  It  was  soon 
discovered  that  a  lamp  had  exploded,  and  the  flame  was  smothered.  As 
soon  as  this  fact  was  announced,  Mrs.  Finch  stepped  upon  a  chair,  and 
sang  '  Hold  the  Fort,'  the  audience  joining  in  singing  as  they  returned 
to  their  seats. 

"  Mr.  Finch  resumed  his  speech,  using  the  incident  with  wonderful 
effect  to  illustrate  the  conflagration  of  strong  drink. 

"  In  the  years  that  have  followed,  this  champion  reformer,  in  the  vigor 
of  his  manhood,  equipped  with  the  armor  of  righteousness  and  the 
shield  of  truth,  has  ever  led  fearlessly  where  the  fire  of  battle  raged 
fiercest,  until  he  fell  with  victory  just  in  sight,  leaving  a  heritage  of 
honor  won  by  self-sacrifice  and  consecrated  devotion  to  principle  and 
truth.' ' 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  209 

Similar  meetings,  marked  by  great  enthusiasm,  and  by 
deeper  convictions  daily  growing  in  the  popular  mind, 
were  held  throughout  the  State.  Grand  Island,  Central 
City,  Clarksville,  Beatrice,  Brownville,  Nemaha,  Peru, 
Tekamah,  North  Platte,  Blair,  Ked  Cloud,  Bloomington, 
Osceola,  Syracuse,  and  many  other  towns  and  cities  were 
visited  and  the  dormant  temperance  forces  roused  to  active 
effort,  while  hundreds  of  recruits  from  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy  were  enlisted. 

A  great  change  had  been  wrought  in  the  sentiment  of  the 
people  since  Mr.  Finch,  unknown  and  unheralded,  arrived 
in  the  State  two  years  before.  His  friends  claimed  and  his 
enemies  bitterly  admitted  that  much  of  the  improvement 
and  development  of  radical  ideas  was  due  to  his  tireless 
energy  and  activity. 

From  the  day  that  he  began  pleading  for  prohibitory  liquor 
laws  and  reasoning  concerning  the  justice  and  necessity  of 
such  legislation,  the  people  of  the  State  began  asking  of 
themselves  and  of  their  neighbors  why  they  were  not  per- 
mitted to  decide  the  question  by  a  popular  vote, 

A  weapon  that  comes  down  as  still 
As  snow-flakes  fall  upon  the  sod  ; 

But  executes  a  freeman's  will, 

As  lightning  does  the  will  of  God. 

In  January,  1880,  Mr.  Finch  was  elected  Grand  Chief 
Templar  of  Nebraska.  From  that  time  forward  for  two 
years  he  studied  and  labored  steadily  for  the  advancement 


IRE  LIVE  OF  JOHN  B.  PINGS. 

of  the  Order  that  he  loved.  He  gave  to  the  lodges  the 
inspiration  of  his  presence,  and  always  responded  to  their 
calls  for  help.  His  warm  sympathy  with  them  in  every 
hour  of  difficulty  and  discouragement  won  the  hearts  of  the 
entire  membership.  His  achievements  in  the  Red  Ribbon 
work,  which  had  won  him  so  great  a  name,  made  the  Good 
Templars  proud  of  their  matchless  leader. 

He  defended  the  Order  against  all  assailants.  To  those 
who  ridiculed  or  sneered  he  pointed  to  the  splendid  record 
of  noble  deeds  wrought  by  the  Order  and  its  faithful 
workers.  The  slanderers  who  sought  to  disparage  Good 
Templary  by  falsehood  and  misstatement  were  confronted 
with  his  sword  of  Truth  wielded  by  an  unsparing  hand. 

In  a  country  school-house  in  Central  Nebraska  a  good 
lodge  had  been  established,  and  had  interested  several  men 
who  specially  needed  the  influence  of  such  an  institution. 

There  also  existed  in  the  same  community  a  church 
organization  of  a  religious  body  who  make  opposition  to 
secret  societies  one  of  their  principal  tenets.  There  had 
been  no  clash  between  the  lodge  and  the  church  until  a 
travelling  elder  came  to  hold  revival  meetings,  which  were' 
quite  successful  in  reforming  some  very  rough  men.  Mem- 
bers of  the  lodge  had  steadily  attended  the  church  services 
and  aided  in  every  way  in  their  power.  In  one  of  the 
closing  sermons  the  elder  took  occasion  to  warn  everybody 
against  the  Good  Templars,  saying  that  candidates  were 
initiated  with  ropes  around  their  necks,  and  were  compelled 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  211 

to  assume  frightful  obligations,  sealed  by  horrible  oaths, 
and  many  other  things  equally  false  and  absurd,  clinching 
his  mendacious  declarations  with  the  statement  that  he  had 
been  a  member  and  knew  the  facts  to  be  as  he  had  stated 
them. 

The  preaching  of  this  utterly  baseless  fabrication  aroused 
the  just  indignation  of  the  Good  Templars.  They  imme- 
diately wrote  for  Mr.  Finch,  and  he  promptly  came  to 
their  rescue.  Notices  of  his  coming  having  been  exten- 
sively circulated,  a  large  and  excited  crowd  gathered  at  the 
appointed  hour. 

Some  of  the  partisans  of  the  minister  were  intensely 
angry,  and  some  of  the  new  converts,  not  yet  schooled  in 
Christian  gentleness,  threatened  dire  vengeance  on  Mr. 
Finch  if  he  dared  to  reflect  on  their  pastor. 

Mr.  Finch  commenced  his  speech  by  calmly  stating  the 
plans  and  objects  of  Good  Templary  and  explaining  its 
system  of  work.  He  recited  the  pledge  required  and  ex- 
plained that  all  the  secrecy  of  the  Order  consisted  of  simple 
signs  and  passwords,  then  repeated  the  words  the  minister 
had  used  in  denouncing  the  Order,  and  added  : 

"  Such  a  statement  is  utterly  and  entirely  false,  and  was 
made  with  the  knowledge  that  it  was  false." 

The  pretended  evangelist  was  present,  and  starting  to  his 
feet,  demanded  : 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  I  lie  ?' ' 

"  Did  you  say,"  asked  Mr.  Finch,  "  that  Good  Templars 


212  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

lead  candidates  about  the  room,  with  a  rope  around  their 
necks  ?" 

"  I  said  something  like  that,"  was  the  response. 

"  Did  you  say  they  required  initiates  to  take  frightful 
oaths  ?" 

"Yes." 

"  Did  you  say  you  had  been  a  member  of  a  Good  Tem- 
plar lodge  and  knew  all  about  it  ?' ' 

"Yes." 

"  Why  did  you  lie  ?"  calmly  asked  Mr.  Finch. 

"  I  had  a  purpose  in  it,"  was  the  testy  answer. 

"  No  doubt  you  had,"  responded  Mr.  Finch;  "but  it 
was  the  purpose  of  a  hypocrite  and  a  slanderer  ;  the  pur- 
pose of  a  deceiver  and  an  impostor." 

At  this  moment  one  of  the  new  converts  jumped  into  the 
room  through  a  window  and  ran  toward  Mr.  Finch,  carry- 
ing a  big  club  in  his  hands  in  a  threatening  manner  and 
declaring  with  an  oath  : 

"You  sha'n't  call  my  preacher  a  liar,  even  if  he  does 
lie!" 

Regardless  of  personal  danger — as  was  ever  the  case  with 
him — Mr.  Finch  turned  his  back  on  the  would-be  assailant, 
and  coolly  pointing  behind  him,  asked  the  alleged  minister  : 

"  Is  this  brute  a  specimen  of  the  results  of  your  system 
of  religious  training  ?" 

No  one  replied.  The  man  with  the  club  slunk  away  and 
quiet  reigned.  Mr.  Finch  continued  his  defence  of  Good 


TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  213 

Templary  without  further  interruption,  and  at  the  close  of 
his  address  several  names  were  proposed  for  admission  to 
the  lodge. 

While  always  ready  to  defend  the  Order  against  the 
attacks  of  its  enemies,  Mr.  Finch  would  not  permit  the 
lodges  to  be  aggressors.  He  urged  them  to  work  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  Christian  churches,  and  give  time, 
money,  and  strength  to  the  advancement  of  all  moral  and 
religious  work. 

It  is  sufficient  evidence  of  the  fraternal  feeling  between 
the  regular  pastors  of  the  State  and  himself  that  wherever 
he  remained  over  Sunday  in  any  town  or  city  he  received 
the  most  cordial  invitations  to  occupy  the  pulpits  for  both 
morning  and  evening  service,  if  he  would  consent  to  the 
arrangement. 

During  his  two  years'  administration  as  head  of  the 
Order  of  Good  Templars  in  Nebraska,  he  brought  the 
organization  more  prominently  before  the  people  than  ever 
before  in  its  history.  He  roused  the  membership  to  activity 
in  every  direction.  Every  lodge  stood  ready  to  prosecute 
violators  of  the  license  law  ;  to  carry  on  a  no-license  cam- 
paign for  a  village  or  city  ;  to  conduct  temperance  revivals  ; 
to  circulate  petitions  for  the  submission  of  amendments,  or 
to  battle  for  State  and  national  prohibition. 

After  two  years  of  laborious  service  for  the  Order  he  was 
unanimously  re-elected  at  the  Hastings  session  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  in  January,  1882,  but  he  peremptorily  declined. 


214  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Upon  his  retirement  from  the  position  of  Grand  Chief 
Templar  a  very  fine  gold  watch  and  chain  were  presented 
to  him  with  an  appropriate  speech.  The  gift  was  from  the 
Good  Templars  throughout  the  State. 

Activity  in  State  work  did  not  prevent  him  from  study- 
ing plans  for  the  broader  work  of  the  whole  Order.  As 
chairman  of  the  Literature  Committee  of  the  Right  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge  from  1880  to  1884  he  wrought  the  impress  of 
his  ideas  into  the  management  of  many  jurisdictions.  Cir- 
culars and  letters  were  sent  to  all  the  lodges  explaining  the 
plans  he  had  formed  for  the  circulation  of  temperance 
books  and  periodicals,  and  urging  that  immediate  steps  be 
taken  to  secure  aid  in  disseminating  the  truth  more  widely 
through  the  medium  of  these  publications. 

The  plan  of  a  literature  collection,  to  be  taken  by  the 
lodges  throughout  the  whole  Order  on  a  certain  week  in 
November,  was  suggested  and  formulated  into  a  by-law  by 
him,  and  unanimously  adopted  by  the  highest  body  in  Good 
Templary.  This  system  is  still  in  force,  and  has  enabled 
the  Order  to  make  large  and  valuable  contributions  of 
printed  matter  for  use  in  the  contests  against  the  liquor 
power  and  for  constitutional  prohibition  in  the  various 
States.  Millions  of  pages  of  documents  have  been  thus  dis- 
tributed. 

Other  interests  were  not  forgotten  in  his  zeal  for  the 
wide  dissemination  of  good  and  helpful  literature.  He 
urged  the  importance  of  a  revenue  sufficient  to  enable  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  215 

Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  to  send  skilled  workers  into 
every  weak  jurisdiction.  By  his  persistent  demands  the 
attention  of  the  Order  was  drawn  to  this  question,  and  an 
improved  financial  system  adopted,  by  which  several 
workers  have  been  employed  each  year  to  go  to  the  rescue 
of  declining  grand  lodges  and  save  them  from  dismember- 
ment. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  estimate  the  amount  of  good 
accomplished  by  these  plans,  which  became  doubly  efficient 
when  Mr.  Finch  was  elected  chief  executive  of  the  Order 
and  empowered  to  superintend  personally  the  working  of 
each  department. 

At  the  session  of  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  in 
Chicago,  in  1 883,  he  was  nominated  for  the  highest  official 
position  in  the  whole  Order,  and  only  lacked  three  votes  of 
a  majority.  This  was  the  first  time  his  name  had  ever  been 
presented  for  any  elective  office  in  that  body,  although  he 
had  been  chairman  of  important  committees. 

At  the  Washington  session  of  the  body  in  1884  Mr.  Finch 
was  again  nominated  for  the  office  of  Right  Worthy  Grand 
Templar,  and  was  elected,  more  than  two  thirds  of  all  the 
votes  cast  being  in  his  favor. 

On    the    day    of    his    election    he    said    to    Mr.    Sib- 

Ie7: 

"  Frank,  I  will  see  the  whole  Order  reunited  before  I 

leave  this  position." 

The  possibility  of  so  grand  an  achievement  seemed  very 


23  6  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

remote,  and  the  hope  of  its  accomplishment  had  long  been 
abandoned  by  nearly  the  entire  membership. 

In  1 876  several  grand  lodges,  whose  aggregate  member- 
ship exceeded  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  left  the 
parent  body  and  continued  work  as  an  independent  organ- 
ization, almost  identical  in  its  name,  policy,  rituals,  constitu- 
tions, and  plans  of  work.  The  prospect  of  reunion  was 
more  doubtful,  because  the  membership  of  the  separate 
organizations  was  largely  in  different  countries,  the  majority 
of  the  original  body  being  in  America,  while  most  of  the 
new  branch  were  in  Great  Britain,  and  national  pride  was 
made  a  pretext  to  widen  the  breach  between  them. 

For  more  than  five  years  after  the  separation  various 
methods  to  secure  reunion  were  tried  without  success. 
Negotiations  failed,  and  an  extensive  and  costly  system  of 
proselyting  and  attempts  at  organizing  by  each  within  the 
territory  of  the  other,  adopted  by  both  divisions,  was  equally 
unsuccessful.  In  the  eight  years  that  had  followed  the 
division  there  had  been  no  time  when  the  prospect  of  har- 
monizing the  different  sections  of  the  Order  seemed  more 
shadowy  and  distant  than  at  the  date  of  the  election  of  Mr. 
Finch  as  chief  executive  of  the  Bight  Worthy  Grand 
Lodge. 

Understanding  most  fully  this  general  feeling  of  hope- 
lessness concerning  reunion,  which  permeated  the  member- 
ship, he  was  too  wise  to  reveal  his  sanguine  purpose  to  any 
one  save  a  few  most  intimate  friends,  and  even  they,  with 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  217 

all  their  confidence  in  his  power  to  win  success,  found  it 
impossible  to  catch  the  inspiration  of  his  faith  in  this  direc- 
tion. 

At  each  of  the  annual  sessions  of  the  body — in  1885  at 
Toronto,  Ontario,  and  in  1886  at  Kichmond,  Ya. — Mr. 
Finch  was  unanimously  re-elected. 

Very  soon  after  his  first  election  he  began  a  correspond- 
ence with  leaders  of  the  independent  branch  to  ascertain 
their  views  concerning  reunion.  With  some  interruptions, 
this  correspondence  was  continued  till  his  cherished  plan 
was  consummated. 

In  the  spring  of  1886  Mr.  Finch  began  a  more  active 
correspondence  concerning  reunion.  The  idea  that  it  was 
possible  was  very  firmly  fixed  in  his  mind,  and  the  deter- 
mination to  achieve  it  took  possession  of  his  energies  and 
concentrated  his  thoughts  upon  plans  and  methods. 

When  he  should  have  rested  from  his  platform  labors,  in 
his  occasional  weeks  at  home,  he  spent  his  days  and  many 
nights  in  writing  long  letters  of  pleading,  of  argument,  of 
explanation,  to  the  leaders  of  both  branches  of  the  Order, 
begging  them  to  forget  past  prejudices  and  differences 
and  break  down  the  barriers  that  separated  the  two  divi- 
sions of  the  great  fraternity. 

So  strong  was  his  desire  for  success  and  so  intense  his 
anxiety,  that  he  would  sometimes  pause  and  look  up  from  a 
half- written  letter,  saying  to  Mrs.  Finch  : 

"  Puss,  I  am  afraid  we  shall  fail." 


218  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

But  the  invariable  answer  was  : 

"  No,  you  will  not  fail.  1  have  faith  that,  after  all  the 
work  you  have  done,  you  will  succeed." 

Cheered  by  her  words,  he  would  bend  again  to  his  task 
and  pen  page  after  page  in  silence,  closing  his  day  or  night 
of  work  with  a  cheery  hopefulness,  which  alone  could  have 
sustained  him. 

Sometimes  on  these  visits  to  his  home  Mrs.  Finch  would 
insist  that  he  needed  rest  and  must,  for  his  own  safety, 
desist  from  working  so  much.  For  an  hour  or  more  he 
would  act  on  the  advice,  going  out  for  a  walk,  sprinkling 
the  lawn,  or  attending  to  some  minor  duty. 

But  the  restless  brain  would  still  revolve  his  plans  and 
hopes,  and  he  would  soon  return  to  his  desk. 

A  letter  from  Joseph  Malins,  who  was  regarded  in 
America  as  the  master  spirit  in  the  separatist  movement, 
indicates  how  industriously  Mr.  Finch  sought  to  bring  all 
the  Templars  in  the  world  into  one  magnificent  organization. 

"  My  first  correspondence  with  John  B.  Finch  was  nearly  three  years 
ago,  when  we  failed  to  understand  each  other.  Correspondence  was 
resumed  in  1886,  when  he  had  fairly  begun  to  set  his  mind  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  reunion,  I  can  now  see  many  things  which  were  done 
that  summer  to  pave  the  way,  and  I  cannot  doubt  that  these  were  initi- 
ated or  influenced  by  his  far-seeing  mind.  His  correspondence  indi- 
cated no  approach  to  assumption  or  dictation,  but  there  was  running 
through  it  all  a  quiet  consciousness  of  strength  which  was  quite  im- 
pressive. 

' '  His  industry  surprised  me.    Amid  his  travel  and  work  I  marvelled 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  219 

how  he,  with  his  own  hand,  wrote  such  long  and  thoughtful  letters.  In 
no  way  did  he  follow  just  the  beaten  paths  of  predecessors,  who  had, 
nevertheless,  worthily  led  the  Order.  There  was  a  freshness  about  his 
methods  exactly  compatible  with  that  youthful,  clean-cut  appearance  and 
demeanor,  which  so  favorably  struck  one  at  the  very  first  moment  of 
meeting. 

"  He  was  firm,  and  yet  did  not  believe  in  trammelling  with  red-tape. 
He  was  frank,  yet  could  keep  his  own  counsel  and  bide  his  time.  Alto- 
gether he  was  a  keen,  pleasing,  genuine,  and  exceptionally  fine  specimen 
of  the  very  best  side  of  young  America— a  type  of  man  whom  all  who  love 
their  country  would  pray  to  see  multiplied." 

The  letters  of  Mr.  Finch  to  Mr.  Malins  are  replete  with 
evidences  of  his  intense  earnestness  and  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  truth  and  justice,  and  to  the  welfare  of  the 
race.  He  had  a  keen  perception  of  America's  social  con- 
ditions and  needs,  and  a  thorough  understanding  of  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  adoption  of  his  plans  of  re- 
union. He  fully  comprehended  that  in  the  minds  of  the 
British  Templars  there  existed  a  firm,  though  mistaken 
conviction  that  American  Templars  failed  to  do  justice  to 
the  negro  race.  He  knew,  too,  that  in  the  United  States 
the  broad  charity  and  warm  sympathy  of  the  whole  Order 
had  taught  every  Good  Templar  the  lesson  that 

"  Pity  and  need 

Make  all  flesh  kin.     There  is  no  caste  in  blood, 
Which  runneth  of  one  hue,  nor  caste  in  tears, 
Which  trickle  salt  with  all ;  neither  comes  man 
To  birth  with  tilka-mark  stamped  on  the  brow, 
Nor  sacred  thread  on  neck." 


220  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Not  knowing  just  how  the  misapprehensions  of  the  Tem- 
plars of  two  continents  were  to  be  set  right,  he  felt  that 
there  must  be  some  way  to  solve  the  problem,  and  that, 
with  the  help  of  God,  he  would  find  the  true  solution. 
Concessions,  if  they  involved  no  sacrifice  of  principle,  he 
was  willing  to  make,  but  on  matters  of  conscience  and  jus- 
tice he  stood  as  inflexible  as  iron.  Mere  pride  he  cast  to 
the  winds,  preferring  to  yield  something  rather  than  to 
permit  the  glory  of  a  universal  brotherhood  to  be  sullied 
by  international  dissensions. 

Far-seeing  statesmanship  and  shrewd  diplomacy  are  nicely 
intermingled  in  the  following  letters  : 

"  EVANSTON,  ILL.,  April  6,  1886. 
"  Joseph  Malins,  P.  E.  W.  G.  G. 

"•  DEAB  SIB  AND  BBOTHEB  :  Two  questions,  it  seems  to  me,  will  deter- 
mine the  question  of  reunion  : 

"First.  Will  the  cause  of  total  abstinence  and  prohibition  be  bene 
fited  by  reunion  ? 

"  Second.  Are  the  Templar  leaders  willing  to  forget  self  and  personal 
prejudice  and  bury  past  mistakes  and  blunders  ? 

' '  I  am  fully  satisfied  that  union  will  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
reform.  The  struggle  between  your  Order  and  the  parent  Order  con- 
sumes time  and  money,  which  should  be  used  to  advance  the  temper- 
ance work.  On  the  American  Continent  your  Order  has  no  standing, 
and  its  only  power  is  to  disintegrate  the  temperance  forces  and  thereby 
help  the  drunkard-makers.  Men  and  women  who  have  entered  the  work 
to  save  the  fallen  and  to  save  others  from  falling  become  discouraged 
and  disheartened  over  this  wrangle  in  temperance  ranks,  and  thereby  the 
reform  suffers.  The  purpose  of  my  co-workers  is  to  destroy  the  evils 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  221 

growing  out  of  the  drink  habit  and  drink  traffic,  and  they  regard  Good 
Templary  as  a  means  to  accomplish  the  desired  end.  Good  Templary 
is  used  to  advance  the  reform,  instead  of  using  the  reform  to  advance 
Good  Templary. 

"  Personally,  I  not  only  think  that  this  strife  in  the  Order  ought  never 
to  have  been,  but  that  to  continue  it  now  is  a  crime  against  the  cause 
and  Order.  If  Good  Templary  was  the  end  sought,  a  conflict  along 
old  lines  with  our  rapidly-developing  organization  and  increasing  treas- 
ury to  sustain  it  might  be  welcome,  but  a  person  who  subordinates  the 
reform  to  personal  ambition  or  personal  prejudice  is  false  to  humanity 
and  civilization.  Our  increasing  and  your  failing  strength  creates  no 
desire  to  meet  you  in  any  other  way  than  as  equals.  We  are  brothers, 
and  the  brother  who  wishes  to  humble  or  degrade  his  brother  is  not 
manly.  The  Templar  leaders  will  meet  you  as  an  equal,  and  your  dele- 
gation as  they  meet  you. 

"  In  the  second  place,  I  have  no  personal  prejudice  against  you  or  any 
of  your  leaders.  My  thought  is,  you  committed  a  grievous  blunder  at 
Louisville  in  1876.  You  think  you  did  right.  The  only  way  we  could 
agree  on  this  matter  is  to  let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead.  The  work 
before  us  is  God's  work.  The  little  I  have  done  for  the  work  has  been 
with  His  help  and  guidance,  and  as  disunion  and  internal  wrangles  are 
an  injury  to  the  work,  I  am  sure  He  will  open  the  way  for  a  union  of 
the  forces. 

"  No  persons  in  the  world  are  more  interested  in  the  negro  than  the 
Abolitionists  of  the  Northern  States,  and  they  are  with  us  in  our  methods 
of  work.  Your  system  differs  from  ours,  because  you  only  reach  the 
negro,  while  we  reach  both  the  negro  and  the  white.  One  error  in  your 
philosophy  on  the  negro  question  is,  you  think  the  white  must  develop 
the  negro,  while  the  fact  is,  the  negro  must  be  aided  to  develop  himself. 
The  burden  of  lodge  work,  church  work,  and  school  work  must  be  laid 
on  his  shoulders.  By  use  of  his  intellectual  forces  they  will  acquire 
strength,  and  he  will  be  truly  a  man.  The  negroes  in  Northern  States 


222  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

where  they  associate  and  mingle  with  the  whites  occupy  subordinate 
positions.  The  truly  great  negroes  in  this  country  have  come  from  the 
South. 

"  The  negro  must  be  taught  to  be  proud  of  his  race.  He  must  be  made 
strong  by  being  placed  where  he  is  compelled  to  use  his  higher  facul- 
ties. To.  place  him  in  an  organization  where  the  superior  education  and 
advantages  of  the  white  would  consign  the  negro  to  subordinate  posi- 
tions, and  thereby  prevent  his  intellectual  growth,  would  be  a  crime 
against  the  negro.  The  colored  ministers  of  Southern  States  did  the 
wisest  possible  thing  for  the  race  when  they  demanded  separate  con- 
ferences and  church  associations.  The  colored  population  of  the  United 
States  have  made  wonderful  progress  in  twenty  years,  but  much,  very 
much  remains  to  be  done.  They  have  to  be  taught  and  retaught  the 
A  B  C  of  temperance  work  and  organization.  So  thoroughly  convinced 
am  I  that  they  develop  more  rapidly  when  the  work  is  placed  in  their 
hands  and  official  honors  on  their  shoulders,  that  I  employ  educated 
colored  lecturers  instead  of  white  lecturers  to  work  among  them. 

"  The  negro  race  has  a  great  future  before  it  in  this  country.  It  is 
increasing  much  more  rapidly  than  the  white  race.  The  negro  race  will 
not  be  absorbed  by  the  white  race.  Anglo-Saxon  pride  of  race  may  lead 
us  to  dispute  the  assertion,  but  the  facts  all  sustain  the  statement.  The 
mixed  bloods  are  disappearing  in  this  country,  while  the  pure  negro  is 
rapidly  increasing.  With  these  certainties  before  us,  we  must  adjust 
our  Order  to  develop  the  negro,  because  beneath  his  dark  skin  lies  the 
solution  of  the  problem  of  the  future  of  his  race.  Negro  progress  must 
come  from  forces  within,  stimulated  by  forces  from  the  outside.  The 
question  before  us  is  how  to  develop  these  forces.  As  the  result  of  our 
system,  race  prejudice  is  dying  out  in  the  South.  The  temperance 
work  is  succeeding  grandly,  and  I  cannot  believe  it  either  wise  or  ex- 
pedient to  destroy  the  independent  position  of  the  negro  in  Good  Tem- 
plary,  and  place  him  again  under  the  tutelage  of  the  white  population. 
Your  idea  of  race  association  would  at  present  make  the  negro  the  ser- 


THE  LIFE  Of  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  223 

vant  or  menial  of  the  white.  There  can  be  equal  association  only  among 
equals,  and  the  negro,  though  rapidly  advancing,  is  yet  far  from  being 
the  equal  of  the  white  in  matters  of  business  management  or  educational 
qualifications.  To  place  him  in  association  with  the  white  is  to  put  the 
•white  in  all  positions  of  trust  and  honor,  and  prevent  the  development 
of  the  negro.  The  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  knows  no  distinction  of 
race  or  color,  and  it  will  punish  any  lodge  or  grand  lodge  which  discrim- 
inates against  a  man  on  account  of  his  color,  but  it  will  not  sacrifice  the 
good  of  the  negro  race  to  the  phantom  of  race  association,  by  trying  to 
compel  them  to  associate  before  social  evolution  has  made  such  associ- 
ation desirable  on  either  side. 

"  The  Order  stands  for  the  high  ideal  of  race  equality,  and  it  will 
work  to  bring  it  about,  by  recognizing  facts  as  they  exist,  and  trying  to 
develop  the  negro  race  socially,  intellectually,  and  morally.  Your  sys- 
tem instead  of  rubbing  out  the  color  line  has  rubbed  in  the  color  line, 
and  in  every  place  where  you  have  succeeded  in  the  Southern  States  you 
have  erected  barriers  between  the  black  and  white,  which  only  time  can 
break  down,  while  in  Virginia,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  and  other  States 
white  Good  Templars  are  organizing  the  colored  people  into  Good 
Templar  lodges  under  our  system.  To  open  this  question  again  is  to 
kindle  anew  the  fires  of  race  prejudice  and  undo  the  work  of  ten  years. 
Your  system  has  been  a  failure  in  the  Southern  States,  and  the  money 
you  have  spent  there  has  been  largely  wasted.  If  reunion  is  brought 
about,  you  will  find  that  your  few  colored  lodges  will  object  to  white 
domination.  You  cannot  force  social  equality  by  legislation.  It  can 
only  come  by  working  to  remove  the  barriers  which  prevent  it,  and  this 
evolution  must  be  among  the  people  affected,  not  among  outsiders. 

"  If  we  can  take  Good  Templary  and  your  Order  as  they  exist  in  this 
country,  England,  Scandinavia,  and  other  countries,  and  after  adjusting 
details  go  forward  as  one  body,  I  shall  be  happy  to  appoint  a  delegation 
from  our  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  to  meet  your  delegation  at  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  in  the  city  of  New  York,  May  16th,  17th,  and  18th. 


224  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  In  appointing  this  delegation,  I  shall  not  appoint  it  to  gain  any  vic- 
tory over  your  Order,  and  if  your  delegation  is  appointed  to  gain  a  vic- 
tory over  us,  the  conference  had  better  not  be  held.  We  do  not  propose 
any  ultimatum,  neither  will  we  accept  any.  The  good  of  the  work  de- 
mands a  cessation  of  the  strife  between  brothers.  Our  delegation  will 
have  full  power  to  settle  on  terms,  and  your  delegation  must  be  invested 
with  similar  powers.  The  proxy  representation,  affiliated  membership, 
beer-drinking  in  Denmark,  district  representation,  are  details  which 
would  necessarily  be  adjusted,  but  the  conference  can  determine  these 
matters. 

"  I  agree  with  you  that  the  whole  matter  remain  secret  with  delega- 
tions and  executives  until  matters  are  adjusted  or  the  attempt  aban- 
doned. If  negotiations  fail,  neither  side  to  print  any  of  the  correspond- 
ence, unless  they  publish  the  whole. 

"  Your  friend, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

"  EVANSTON,  ILL.,  June  3,  1886. 
"  Joseph  Malins,  P.  R.  W.  0.  G. 

' '  DEAB  BEOTHEB  :  I  very  much  regret  that  you  failed  to  receive  my 
letter  of  April  6th. 

"  The  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  adjourned  on  Monday  after  the 
most  successful  session  ever  held.  The  District  and  Worthy  Grand 
Lodge  systems  were  perfected  and  given  a  degree,  a  course  of  study  was 
adopted,  and  much  needful  legislation  done. 

"  I  wish  we  could  adjust  matters  early  this  year,  so  that  we  might  all 
meet  at  Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  next  year. 

"  Yours, 

"JOHN  B.  FINCH,  R.  W.  0.  T." 

"  EVANSTON,  ILL.,  July  6,  1886. 
"Joseph  Malins,  R  W.  0.  C. 

"  DEAK  SIB  AND  BBOTHEE  :  Your  note  of  June  15th  is  at  hand.  Please 
allow  me  to  suggest  that  if  you  and  your  associates  agree  that  it  is  wise 


TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  225 

• 

to  send  a  delegation  to  meet  ours,  that  you  come  in  November.  The 
reason  for  suggesting  the  time  is,  our  elections  come  off  the  first  of  that 
month,  and  the  excitement  and  work  incident  thereto  will  prevent  our 
giving  you  such  a  reception  as  I  desire  to  give  you.  At  the  close  of  the 
conference  I  would  like  to  have  you  remain  long  enough  to  make  some- 
thing of  a  trip  through  our  jurisdiction.  I  hope  both  you  and  Brother 
Gladstone  may  come  over.  I  wrote  Brother  Lane  I  hoped  your  delega- 
tion would  be  free  from  men,  if  you  have  any,  who  have  personal  preju- 
dices to  gratify.  I  hope  this  matter  may  soon  reach  a  satisfactory  con- 
clusion. 

"  Your  friend, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

"  EVANSTON,  ILL.,  August  11,  1886. 
"  Joseph  Matins,  E.  W.  0.  C. 

"  DEAB  BBOTHEK  :  A  letter  from  Brother  Lane  fixes  September  27th  as 
the  day,  and  Boston,  Mass.,  as  the  place  for  the  proposed  conference.  I 
am  glad  it  is  settled,  though  I  should  have  preferred  a  later  date. 

"  I  write  to  ask  you  to  arrange  to  stay  several  days  after  the  confer- 
ence, and  accompany  me  to  New  Jersey  and  other  points  to  see  our  ag- 
gressive prohibition  campaign. 

"  Please  write  me  when  and  how  you  sail.    May  God  give  you  a  speedy 

and  safe  voyage. 

"  Your  friend, 

"JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

The  conference  on  reunion,  composed  of  eight  represent- 
atives from  each  of  the  two  great  branches  of  the  Order, 
met  in  Boston,  September  27th,  28th,  and  29th,  1886. 

The  members  of  the  conference  consisted  of  the  Right 
Worthy  Grand  Templars  of  each  of  the  two  branches,  and 
seven  members  from  each  side,  appointed  by  them. 

For  the  parent  body  the  members  of  the  Conference 


226  THE  LIFE  Off  JOHN  B.  FItfCH. 

• 
Committee  were:    John  B.    Finch,    R.W.G.T.;    W.   H. 

Lambly,  R.W.G.T.;  Francena  C.  Bailey,  R.W.G.V.T.; 
Oronhyatekha,  M.D.,  R.W.G.C.;  W.  Martin  Jones, 
P.G.C.T.;  N.  B.  Broughton,  G.C.T.;  Charles  L.  Abbott, 
G.C.T.;  George  A.  Bailey,  G.C.T. 

For  the  other  branch  the  following  members  were  pres- 
ent :  William  G.  Lane,  R.W.G.T. ;  Joseph  Malins, 
R.W.G.C.;  William  Ross,  P.R.W.G.T.;  Jesse  Forsyth, 
R.W.G.V.T.;  William  W.  Turnbull,  R.W.G.S.;  William 
M.  Artrell,  G.C.T. ;  William  P.  Hastings,  P. G.C.T. ; 
K  T.  Collins,  G.Y.T. 

Mr.  Finch  and  Mr.  Lane  presided  alternately  at  the  ses- 
sions. The  influence  of  Mr.  Finch  was  the  power  that 
moved  the  conference,  as  every  member  recognized  that 
but  for  his  skill  and  persistence  no  effort  for  reunion  would 
have  been  made  or  could  have  been  successful. 

Twenty-six  propositions  were  adopted  as  a  basis  of  re- 
union, and  it  was  agreed  that  both  bodies  should  meet  at 
Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  where  the  parent  organization,  at 
its  Richmond  session,  had  decided  to  meet  in  May,  1887. 

The  conference  basis  settled,  Mr.  Finch  set  out  at  once 
to  secure  the  hearty  co-operation  of  all  the  Grand  Lodges  in 
his  jurisdiction.  Under  date  of  October  llth  and  Decem- 
ber 9th,  1886,  he  wrote  : 

"  MY  DEAB  BEOTHEK  MALINS  :  I  shall  immediately  commence  work  to 
make  reunion  a  glorious  success  in  this  country.  In  January  shall  com- 
mence a  Southern  trip  in  which  I  shall  visit  every  Southern  State,  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  229 

put  our  work  on  a  sound  and  correct  footing.  It  will  cost  me  personally 
one  thousand  dollars,  but  it  must  be  done.  Now  I  want  you  to  aid  me 
in  England  by  opening  correspondence  with  the  leading  Grand  Lodge 
officers,  and,  if  possible,  I  wish  you  would  see  them  personally.  It 
becomes  the  strong  and  able  to  be  generous.  They  can  afford  to  be 
generous. 

"  After  reunion  my  thought  is,  it  will  take  the  first  year  to  adjust  mat- 
ters in  America  and  Europe.  The  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  should 
want  about  two  months  of  your  time,  for  which  it  could  pay  you  salary 
and  expenses.  The  second  year  Africa,  Asia,  and  Australia  would  take 
eight  months.  The  whole  work  to  be  completed  in  two  years. 

' '  Your  friend, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

"  MY  DEAR  BBOTHER  MALINS  :  Thanks  for  all  favors  received.  My 
health  is  very  much  better.  There  is  very  much  to  be  done  before  next 
May,  and  I  am  sure  God  will  give  me  strength  to  do  it.  Thanks  for 
your  suggestions  in  regard  to  English  matters.  I  am  writing  our  friends 
on  that  side  by  every  mail.  I  want  to  be  kind  and  firm.  Am  willing  to 
stand  or  fall  by  the  Boston  Conference. 
.  "  At  the  right  moment  all  our  Grand  Lodges  will  be  sounded  on  the 

question  of  reunion. 

"  Your  friend, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

At  Saratoga  the  strain  upon  the  nerves  was  intensified 
tenfold.  There  his  cherished  plans  were  to  be  consum- 
mated and  the  hopes  of  years  crowned  with  success,  or  for- 
ever shattered.  He  arrived  three  days  in  advance  of  the 
opening  of  the  session.  From  the  hour  of  his  arrival  till 
the  close  of  the  session  his  days  and  nights  were  full  of 
sleepless  activity.  For  nearly  two  weeks  there  was  little 


230  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

opportunity  for  rest.  Meetings  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee and  other  committees,  consultations  with  members, 
conferences  of  leaders,  were  held  late  at  night  and  early  in 
the  morning,  to  avoid  interference  with  the  regular  morn- 
ing, afternoon,  and  evening  sittings  of  the  Right  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge. 

Noticing  an  anxious  look  in  the  face  of  his  wife  one  day, 
he  said  : 

"  Puss,  you  have  all  you  can  do  to  keep  up.  What  do 
you  think  of  me  ?  I  have  to  endure  it  all,  and  preside  over 
the  sessions." 

According  to  the  agreement,  both  Right  Worthy  Grand 
Lodges  convened  and  officially  adopted  the  basis  of  union 
of  the  Boston  Conference.  On  the  evening  of  the  third 
day  they  ended  their  separate  sessions  and  met  together  as 
one  body,  the  supreme  legislative  and  executive  head  of 
Good  Templary  throughout  the  world. 

On  the  entrance  of  the  members  of  the  returning  branch 
the  wildest  enthusiasm  prevailed.  Handkerchiefs  were 
waved  and  cheer  after  cheer  rose  from  the  assembly.  An 
hour  of  intermission  was  granted  for  hand-shaking  and 
congratulation. 

The  scene  was  one  long  to  be  remembered  by  all  who 
were  present.  A  benediction  from  on  high  seemed  to 
breathe  its  hallowing  influence  upon  the  members.  The 
opposition  of  years  melted  like  snowflakes  in  the  summer 
sun.  Men  who  had  been  hostile  almost  to  bitterness,  stood 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  231 

clasped  in  each  other's  arms,  with  tears  of  joy  raining  down 
their  cheeks.     Every  voice  united  in  singing  : 

' '  Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow, " 

and 

"  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 

Our  hearts  in  Christian  love  ; 
The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 

Is  like  to  that  above. 
Before  our  Father's  throne 

We  pour  our  ardent  prayers  ; 
Our  fears,  our  hopes,  our  aims  are  one, 

Our  comforts  and  our  cares.' ' 

When  the  rejoicing  members  were  again  called  to  order 
Mr.  Finch  called  upon  the  chaplain  to  offer  prayer,  and  the 
response  was  a  most  fervent  offering  of  gratitude  to  God 
for  the  loving  providence  which  made  the  union  possible. 
In  that  solemn  moment  of  communion  with  Heaven  every 
soul  seemed  sanctified  by  the  visible  manifestations  of  the 
Divine  Presence. 

There  was  joy  in  the  hearts  of  these  representatives  of 
seven  hundred  thousand  Good  Templars  when  they  stood, 
for  the  first  time  in  eleven  years,  a  fraternal  circle,  around 
the  sacred  altar  of  the  Order,  and  lovingly  reconsecrated 
their  lives  to  the  overthrow  of  the  demon  of  strong  drink 
in  all  the  lands  and  kingdoms  and  continents  under  the 
whole  heaven. 

Mr.  Finch  no  doubt  felt  his  blood  leap  faster  with  pulsa- 


232  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

tions  of  gratification  and  thankfulness  as  he  beheld  the  glori 
ous  consummation  of  his  three  years  of  most  anxious  hope. 

The  united  body  remained  in  session  for  four  days,  clos 
ing  its  business  late  at  night  on  the  31st  day  of  May.     Mr. 
Finch  was  unanimously  elected  Chief  of  the  reunited  Order, 
and  now  for  the  first  time  in  its  history  the  Bight  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge  adjourned  for  two  years. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand 
Lodge  the  newly-elected  Executive  Committee  held  several 
sessions,  in  which  arrangements  were  made  for  Mr.  Finch 
to  visit  immediately,  England,  Norway,  Sweden,  and 
Denmark,  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  Order  in  those 
kingdoms.  He  afterward  found  the  demands  of  other 
branches  of  temperance  work  too  pressing  to  permit  an 
absence  from  the  United  States  for  three  months,  and 
therefore  the  plan  for  the  contemplated  visit  abroad  was 
abandoned. 

In  the  proposed  trip  abroad  Mrs.  Finch  and  little  John 
were  to  accompany  him,  and  some  other  friends  were  ex- 
pected to  join  the  party.  The  following  was  the  memo- 
randum of  route  outlined  by  Mr.  Finch  : 

"  New  York  to  Glasgow,  through  Scotland  and  England, 
cross  from  England  to  Denmark,  thence  through  Sweden 
and  Germany,  returning  to  England  and  sailing  from 
Liverpool  for  home. ' ' 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  session  Mr.  Finch 
wrote  : 


RIGHT   WORTHY  GRAND   LODGE   EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  235 

'  In  the  midst  of  the  rejoicing  over  union  of  the  Templar  forces,  the 
future  work  of  the  Order  must  not  be  forgotten.  Union  simply  clears 
the  deck  for  action.  The  union  movement  was  begun  because  disunion 
prevented  successful  work,  wasted  funds,  and  misdirected  force. 
Union  was  not  a  sentiment,  it  was  a  necessity.  With  the  blessing  and 
guidance  of  God  it  was  accomplished.  The  forces  are  united,  '  We  are 
one."  But  if  this  is  to  be  the  end,  the  work  will  have  been  worse  than 
wasted  and  union  will  prove  a  defeat  instead  of  a  victory.  The  Good 
Templar  Order  must  be  the  aggressive  temperance  missionary  organiza- 
tion of  the  world.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  Good  Templar  to  study  and 
work  to  make  the  Order  in  spirit  what  it  is  in  numbers — the  greatest 
temperance  organization  in  the  world.  The  Order  needs  and  must  have 
the  best  thought  and  work  of  its  members.  One  trouble  in  times  past 
has  been  that  many  Templars,  while  members  of  the  Order,  have  neg- 
lected its  work  and  given  time,  money,  and  praise  to  other  organiza- 
tions. Temperance  organizations  should  co-operate  as  temperance 
organizations,  but  deserting  one's  temperance  home  to  praise  and  sup- 
port some  other  temperance  society  is  about  as  sensible  as  deserting 
one's  wife  and  children  to  support  those  of  another  man.  If  the  Order 
of  Good  Templars  is  old  and  useless,  it  is  the  duty  of  every  Good  Templar 
to  leave  it  and  join  a  live  organization.  If  the  Order  is  live,  active, 
and  aggressive,  it  is  entitled  to  the  honest,  loyal  support  of  all  its  mem- 
bers. The  fact  is,  the  Order  is  the  leading  temperance  organization  of 
the  world  to-day.  It  holds  more  meetings,  raises  more  money,  and  cir- 
culates more  literature  than  any  other  organization.  But  the  demands 
of  the  time  are  for  more  and  better  work,  and  the  object  of  this  letter  is 
to  urge  every  Good  Templar  to  give  his  best  thought  and  energy  to 
building  up  and  developing  the  Subordinate,  District,  and  Grand 
Lodges." 

The  People's  Friend,  Hobart,  Tasmania,  of  September 
1st,  contained  the  following  letter  to  the  business  manager, 


236  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Mr.   John  Andrews,   dated  at  Evanston,   111.,   TJ.  S.  A., 
June  18th,  1887  : 

'  DEAE  SIB  AND  BEOTHEB  :  The  People's  Friend  comes  regularly  to  my 
office,  and  I  am  under  great  obligations  to  the  kind  friend  who  sends  it. 
Of  the  more  than  one  hundred  temperance  papers  which  come  to  me 
each  month,  none  is  read  with  greater  interest.  Tasmania  seems  a  long 
way  off,  but  your  paper  brings  it  wonderfully  near. 

"  Please  allow  me  through  its  columns  to  send  greeting  to  the  Good 
Templars  of  Tasmania,  and  to  congratulate  them  on  the  reunion  of  the 
Good  Templar  Order.  Before  you  receive  this  letter  the  news  of  union 
will  have  reached  Tasmania.  The  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  being 
united,  it  is  expected  the  Grand  Lodges  will  unite  within  a  year.  The  next 
session  of  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  will  meet  in  Chicago,  U.  S.  A. , 
May,  1889.  The  next  two  years  will  be  devoted  to  arranging  the  details 
of  union  between  Grand  Lodges,  to  perfecting  the  missionary  machinery 
of  the  Order,  and  to  actively  and  aggressively  pushing  missionary  work. 
Good  Templary  must  be,  and  with  God's  help  and  guidance  shall  be, 
the  aggressive  missionary  organization  of  the  world.  Disunion  during 
the  past  ten  years  has  crippled  our  forces  and  wasted  our  funds.  To-day 
we  are  united,  and  ready  to  go  forward  to  battle  for  the  homes  of  the 
world.  We  have  nothing  to  do  but  perfect  our  Order—  raise  funds  to 
circulate  literature  and  hire  speakers,  and  force  the  fighting.  Our 
enemy  is  the  alcoholic  drink  habit  and  the  alcoholic  drink  traffic.  The 
Templars'  war-cry  is—'  Total  abstinence  and  total  prohibition.'  The 
stronghold  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  the  ignorance  of  the  people  in  regard 
to  the  cause  of  the  evils  of  intemperance  and  the  true  remedies  for  such 
evils.  This  ignorance  must  be  overcome  by  literature  and  lectures,  and 
the  Templar  army  must  furnish  the  means  to  provide  both.  Templars 
were  not  enlisted  for  a  holiday  parade.  The  battle  with  the  liquor- 
traffic  is  a  battle  to  death.  No  license  of  any  form,  nor  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, for  the  alcoholic  beverage  traffic,  must  be  blazoned  on  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  237 

shield  of  every  Templar.  The  wives,  mothers,  and  babies  of  the  drunk- 
ards are  looking  to  us  for  protection.  In  the  name  of  Him  who  said, 
'  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  Me,'  I  want  to  urge  every  Good 
Templar  to  be  true  to  himself,  true  to  the  Order,  true  to  his  country, 
and  true  to  his  God.  The  executive  of  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge 
will  do  all  in  its  power  to  find  the  weak  places  in  the  line,  and  to  assist 
the  Worthy  Grand  and  Grand  Lodges  to  strengthen  them.  The  wisdom 
and  bravery  of  your  local  leaders  have  often  been  told  us,  and  I  want  to 
thank  them  publicly  for  services  grandly  rendered  ;  and  also  want  to 
say  to  the  rank  and  file,  that  in  being  loyal  and  true  to  your  local  lead- 
ers, you  are  loyal  and  true  to  the  head  of  the  Order. 

"  I  had  hoped  to  come  to  Australasia  this  year,  but  business  and  polit- 
ical duties  prevent.  However,  if  our  Heavenly  Father  so  will,  I  shall 
try  to  be  with  you  in  1889  or  1890. 

"  Praying  God's  richest  blessings  on  the  Tasmanian  Grand  Lodge  of 
Templars, 

"  I  remain  your  friend, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH,  R.  W.  G.  T." 

One  of  the  last  official  communications  ever  sent  out  by 
Mr.  Finch,  the  proclamation  for  a  week  of  prayer,  is  full 
of  the  thought  of  union. 

"  DEAR  BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS  :  The  Constitution  of  the  Eight  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge  provides  as  follows  : 

"  SEC.  9.  The  fourth  week  in  November  of  each  year  shall  be  known 
throughout  the  Order  as  '  Missionary  Week, '  and  the  entire  Order,  at 
the  Subordinate  Lodge  meetings  held  during  that  week,  shall  be  re- 
quested to  raise  at  least  ten  cents,  or  its  equivalent,  from  each  member 
of  the  Order,  to  be  sent  to  the  Missionary  Fund  of  the  Eight  Worthy 
Elrand  Lodge,  to  be  used  by  that  body  in  the  circulation  of  temperance 
literature.  The  funds  raised  shall  be  sent  by  the  Secretaries  of  the 


238  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Subordinate  Lodges  to  the  Grand  Secretaries  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  and 
by  him  to  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Secretary.  The  Eight  Worthy  Grand 
Secretary  shall  acknowledge  the  receipt  of,  and  forward  the  same  to  the 
Bight  Worthy  Grand  Treasurer.  The  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Secretary 
shall  show,  in  his  annual  report,  the  amount  of  this  fund,  and  by  which 
Grand  or  Subordinate  Lodge  contributed. 

"  At  the  Saratoga  Session  of  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge,  the  fol- 
lowing recommendation  of  the  Committee  on  Petitions  was  adopted  : 

"  '  And  we  would  earnestly  recommend  that  inasmuch  as  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  has  set  apart  the  fourth  week 
in  November  of  each  year  as  "  Missionary  Week,"  that  it  will  also  be 
designated  as  a  special  season  of  prayer,  and  that  the  Eight  Worthy 
Grand  Templar  by  proclamation  invoke  the  Order  all  over  the  world  to 
unite  at  that  time  in  praise,  prayer,  and  generous  giving  for  the  welfare 
and  prosperity  of  our  Order.' 

"  In  accordance  with  the  law  and  instruction  of  the  Eight  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge,  I  proclaim  the  fourth  week  in  November,  1887,  a  week  of 
prayer  throughout  the  Order.  At  the  regular  lodge  meeting  held  during 
that  week  let  the  entire  membership  join  in  prayer  and  thanksgiving  to 
the  Almighty  God  for  the  wonderful  blessings  vouchsafed  to  us  as  an 
Order  during  the  past  year.  The  greatest  blessing  during  the  year  has 
been  the  union  of  the  divided  Order,  and  I  want  to  urge  the  whole 
united  Order  in  every  part  of  the  world,  by  a  contribution  of  at  least  ten 
cents  by  each  member,  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand 
Lodge  Executive,  the  funds  to  liquidate  certain  debts  which  prevent  full 
and  perfect  union  of  the  Order.  The  need  is  great,  and  I  plead  with 
every  Grand  Lodge  to  make  the  collection  a  general  offering  of  the  Order 
for  the  blessing  of  union. 

"  In  F.,  H.,  and  C., 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH,  E.  W.  0.  T." 

W.  W.  Turnbull,  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  who  succeeded 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  239 

Mr.  Finch  in  the  office  of  Right  Worthy  Grand  Templar, 
in  his  address  upon  assuming  the  duties  of  the  position,  said  : 

"  Brother  Finch  was  no  ordinary  man,  no  ordinary  Good  Templar,  or 
Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar.  Amid  the  galaxy  of  brilliant  leaders  of 
our  great  temperance  organization,  no  name  stands  higher  than  that  of 
him  who  was  raised  up  and  honored  by  God  to  arrange  and  carry  through 
the  union  of  our  forces.  The  name  of  John  B.  Finch  will  be  held  in 
everlasting  remembrance  as  a  peace-maker,  the  restorer  of  the  sundered 
fellowship  between  estranged  brethren,  and  the  turner  of  their  energies 
from  fratricidal  strife  into  the  useful  channels  of  promoting  the  interests 
of  humanity  and  the  furtherance  and  triumph  of  total  abstinence  and 
the  prohibition  of  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks.  The  union  of  the 
Order  may  be  regarded  as  the  greatest  work  of  his  life.  For  this  cause, 
I  believe  God  raised  him  up  and  gave  him  the  confidence  of  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Order  throughout  both  sections,  and  we  are  thankful  to  God 
that  He  spared  that  useful  life  not  only  to  see  the  union  of  the  two 
Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodges  at  Saratoga,  but  gave  him,  ere  he  was 
called  to  rest,  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  in  New  South  Wales,  in 
Victoria,  in  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  in  Nova  Scotia  and  New- 
foundland, in  Scotland  and  in  Ireland,  in  Cape  Colony  and  in  India,  the 
two  branches  of  the  Order  had  been  harmoniously  merged  without  a 
single  dissentient  voice  or  vote.  Never  is  the  addition  of  the  word 
'  Past '  to  be  applied  to  Brother  Finch's  title  as  Eight  Worthy  -Grand 
Templar  of  our  united  world-wide  Order.  His  name  will  always  stand 
at  the  top  of  the  roll  as  the  first  in  the  new  union  made  in  his  native 
State  in  May  last.  His  winning  manners,  his  cheery  words,  and  his 
pleasant  smile  carried  our  hearts  by  storm. 

"  Nothing  has  impressed  me  more  in  all  my  correspondence  with  him 
than  the  deep-toned  piety  which  he  unconsciously  expressed.  During 
the  negotiations  regarding  reunion  he  wrote  to  me,  saying  :  '  Good  Tem- 
plary  can  only  succeed  by  methods  which  God  can  approve.' 


240  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  John  B.  Finch  '  served  his  generation  by  the  will  of  God,'  and  fin- 
ished the  work  God  gave  him  to  do.  He  has  passed  to  '  where  beyond 
these  voices  there  is  peace.'  In  our  blindness  we  feel  in  our  hearts  like 
crying,  '  Would  to  God  he  was  with  us  still.' 

'  Oh,  for  the  touch  of  a  vanished  hand, 
And  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still  1 ' 

But  no  ;  we  crush  back  the  feeling,  for  '  it  is  well '  with  him.  Dearly 
beloved,  friend  and  brother,  farewell  !  Thou  dost  rest  from  thy  labors, 
and  thy  works  follow  thee.  In  a  little  while,  we  know  not  how  soon, 
our  working  days  will  also  be  over,  and  we,  too,  shall  enter  upon  our 
rest.  God  grant  that  when  our  time  comes,  like  you,  we  may  be  found 
at  the  post  of  duty,  and  that  we  may  meet  you  in  the  better  land,  there 
to  grasp  hands  again  as  friends  and  fellow-workers,  to  share  together  in 
the  bliss  of  the  redeemed,  and  to  engage  in  the  uninterrupted  service  of 
God." 

From  far-off  India,  the  notes  of  rejoicing  over  the  future 
prospects  of  the  Order  were  mingled  with  praise  of  the 
leader  whose  clear  brain  had  planned  reunion. 

The  United  Indian  Templar  said  : 

"The  infinite  tact  Mr.  Finch  displayed  in  dealing  with  questions 
regarding  reunion  at  Saratoga  won  the  admiration  of  all  observing  men. 
He  combined  in  a  remarkable  degree  that  suaviter  in  modo  and  fortiter 
in  re  which  are  always  found  in  able  politicians." 

In  his  annual  report  to  his  Grand  Lodge,  Theodore  D. 
Kanouse,  Past  Right  Worthy  Good  Templar  and  present 
Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Dakota,  wrote  : 

"  The  schism  of  1876  was  completely  healed  at  Saratoga.     The  Eight 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  241 

Worthy  Grand  Lodge  and  the  so-called  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  of 
the  World  met  according  to  the  agreement,  and,  like  good  Christian 
folk,  'buried  the  hatchet'  and  agreed  from  thenceforth  to  march  'neath 
one  banner  from  zone  to  zone,  and  at  the  bidding  of  one  commander-in- 
chief.  This  glorious  result  was  brought  about  by  the  wonderful  skill  in 
diplomacy  of  our  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar,  fairly  met  in  supreme 
council  by  the  patriotism  of  noble  souls  from  all  over  the  world.  The 
reunion  having  been  legally  accomplished,  it  yet  remained  for  some  one 
to  be  sought  out  who  should  by  his  wisdom  and  tact  unite  us  in  bonds 
of  brotherly  love.  '  Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ? '  was  the  all- 
absorbing  question.  The  courageous,  valiant,  peerless  captain  who  had 
led  the  Order  up  the  mount  overlooking  the  promised  land  became  the 
inspiration  of  all  hearts,  and  with  one  voice  John  B.  Finch  was  chosen. 
The  modest  man  whose  wonderful  grasp  of  great  questions  had  won  for 
him  the  admiration  of  our  world's  great  men  went  forth  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  high  commission.  In  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  he 
came  within  our  own  jurisdiction  to  consult  concerning  plans  for  the 
advancement  of  our  cause  and  Order.  The  24th,  25th,  and  26th  days  of 
September  last  were  '  Ked-Letter '  days  with  my  family,  for  on  those 
days  Brother  Finch  was  our  guest.  On  Monday  morning  the  26th 
we  bowed  together  at  our  family  altar  and  commended  the  cause 
for  which  Brother  Finch  was  giving  his  life,  to  Him  who  careth 
when  the  sparrow  falls.  To  me  it  was  a  solemn  moment,  for  being  far 
from  the  centres  of  Brother  Finch's  work,  I  did  not  expect  soon  again  to 
enjoy  his  presence  in  my  home.  Amens  were  said,  and  we  arose,  and  at 
eleven  o'clock  we  bade  our  beloved  chief  good-by  with  a  promise  soon 
to  meet  him  in  Chicago.  This  promise  we  kept — not,  as  he  had  urged, 
for  further  consultation,  but  to  assist  in  entombing  his  earthly  remains  ; 
for  on  the  3d  day  of  October  in  the  city  of  Boston,  Mass.— as  the  Ger- 
man tradition  of  Moses  is—'  The  Lord  kissed  him  and  he  was  not.' 
The  world  of  temperance  workers  felt  the  shock  of  his  daath,  and  we 
shall  ever  mourn  his  loss  as  one  of  God's  brightest  and  best. " 


242  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

That  grand,  true-hearted  hero,  Past  Eight  "Worthy  Grand 
Templar,  Samuel  D.  Hastings,  who  for  nearly  fifty  years 
has  nobly  fought  the  battles  of  two  great  reforms,  re- 
viewed the  history  of  the  reunion  of  the  Good  Templars  in 
his  Memorial  Address  in  Madison,  Wis.,  November  27th, 
1887.  He  said: 

"  As  an  organizer  and  worker,  John  B.  Finch  was  no  less  distinguished 
than  as  an  orator  and  as  a  leader.  As  the  head  of  the  Order  of  Good 
Templars  he  accomplished  a  most  extraordinary  work.  The  Order  ex- 
tends all  over  the  civilized  world,  and  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as 
its  chief  executive  officer,  he  was  in  almost  constant  correspondence  with 
persons  residing  in  all  parts  of  its  wide  extended  jurisdiction.  One  of 
th«  duties  devolving  upon  him  as  head  of  the  Order  was  that  of  Super- 
intendent of  Missions.  In  the  management  of  this  work  he  exhibited 
the  most  consummate  skill  and  the  highest  order  of  executive  ability. 
His  reports  as  Superintendent  of  Missions  show  a  wonderful  grasp  of  the 
work  as  a  whole,  while  his  oversight  of  details,  even  to  the  most  minute 
particulars,  shows  that  nothing  escaped  his  watchful  eye.  A  brief  ex- 
tract from  the  introduction  to  his  report  as  Superintendent  of  Missions 
presented  at  the  recent  session  of  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  will 
serve  to  give  those  not  connected  with  the  Order  some  idea  of  his  views 
as  to  its  principles  and  aims  in  this  direction. 

"  Says  the  report  :  '  In  the  early  history  of  the  Order,  before  the  line 
of  battle  had  been  formed,  temperance  work  was  a  novelty,  and  thou- 
sands joined  our  ranks  ;  but  when  the  increasing  bitterness  of  the  struggle 
forced  upon  them  the  fact  that  the  battle  between  the  alcoholic  liquor 
traffic  and  the  Templar  forces,  was  a  battle  to  death,  the  holiday  soldiers 
became  frightened  and  left  the  ranks  by  hundreds.  The  Good  Templars 
first  proclaimed  that  no  compromise  or  treaty  would  be  made  with  the 
liquor  traffic.  The  liquor-sellers  at  once  met  the  issue  by  attacking 
every  politician,  every  political  party,  business  man,  newspaper,  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  243 

church  that  was  not  openly  or  secretly  in  favor  of  legalizing  drunkard- 
making.  .  The  dullest  person  in  the  world  to-day  knows  that  to  join  the 
Good  Templars  is  to  enlist  for  the  war,  and  that  by  joining  he  declares 
eternal  hate  to  the  alcoholic  drink  habit  and  traffic.  .  .  .  Acting 
under  your  instructions,  I  have  endeavored  to  do  permanent  work.  .  .  . 
Ideal  Good  Templary  plans  for  the  wide  circulation  of  papers,  books, 
and  documents,  and  the  permanent  employment  of  a  corps  of  lay  evan- 
gelists, who  shall  visit  every  village,  hamlet,  town,  and  city  in  the 
Grand  Lodge  jurisdiction  during  the  year.  To  this  ideal  I  have  tried 
to  turn  the  thought  of  our  workers  and  leaders.' 

"  His  greatest  work  in  connection  with  the  Good  Templars  was, 
doubtless,  the  bringing  about  the  union  of  the  two  branches  of  the 
Order,  that  for  ten  years  had  spent  in  opposing  each  other,  time  and 
energy  that  ought  to  have  been  spent  in  fighting  the  common  enemy. 
Unfortunately,  in  1876,  the  Order  was  divided,  owing  to  a  difference  of 
views  touching  the  status  of  the  colored  man  in  the  Order.  Efforts  were 
made  at  different  times  during  the  ten  years  of  separation  to  bring  about 
reunion,  but  all  had  resulted  in  failure.  Shortly  after  Mr.  Finch  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  Order,  he  concluded  to  make  one  more  attempt 
to  bring  about  union.  After  a  vast  amount  of  labor,  and  after  surmount- 
ing obstacles  that  would  have  discouraged  an  ordinary  man,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  accomplishing  what  he  had  undertaken.  At  the  session  of 
the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  held  at  Saratoga  Springs  in  May  last,  he 
was  made  glad  by  seeing  the  representatives  of  the  two  branches  of  the 
Order,  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  come  together  as  one  body,  consti- 
tuting the  largest  temperance  organization  that  ever  had  an  existence. 
His  unanimous  election  to  the  chief  executive  chair  of  the  united  body 
was  evidence  that  his  efforts  were  appreciated. 

"  One  who  was  not  in  a  position  to  know  what  had  to  be  done  to 
bring  about  this  union  can  have  no  adequate  idea  of  the  immense 
amount  of  labor  performed  by  Mr.  Finch  in  securing  the  result. 

"Few  men  could  have  performed  all  the  actual  labor  that  he  per- 


244  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

formed  in  bringing  about  this  union  had  they  had  nothing  else  what- 
ever to  occupy  their  time  and  attention.  Mr.  Finch  not  only  did  this, 
but  he  attended  carefully  to  his  work  as  Superintendent  of  Missions  ;  he 
promptly  discharged  his  important  and  responsible  duties  as  the  chief 
executive  officer  of  the  Order  ;  he  attended  to  his  duties  as  Chairman  of 
the  National  Executive  Committee  of  the  Prohibition  Party,  and  during 
the  whole  time  was  almost  constantly  travelling,  speaking  almost  daily, 
frequently  at  points  BO  wide  apart  as  to  make  it  seem  as  though  he  was 
almost  omnipresent. 

"  Mr.  Finch  had  an  immense  correspondence,  and  yet  I  have  seldom 
known  a  man  more  prompt  in  replying  to  letters  than  he  was. 

"  He  had  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  the  situation  of  the  battle  not 
only  all  over  this  land,  but,  as  far  as  the  Order  of  Good  Templars  was 
concerned,  all  over  the  world. 

"  He  seemed  to  know  just  what  was  needed  at  every  point  all  along 
the  vastly  extended  line  of  battle. 

"  If  a  surprise  was  contemplated  at  any  point,  he  seemed  to  be  aware 
of  it  and  to  know  just  how  to  meet  and  counteract  it. 

"  If  an  unexpected  attack  had  been  made  at  another  point,  he  was 
quick  to  send  the  needed  relief.  He  knew  personally  nearly  all  the 
prominent  workers  in  this  country,  both  in  the  Good  Templar  Order 
and  in  the  Prohibition  Party,  and  he  seemed  to  be  able  almost  intui- 
tively to  gauge  not  only  their  mental  but  their  moral  standing  ;  and  when 
he  wanted  a  man  for  any  particular  service  he  knew  just  the  right  one  to 
call  upon.  By  correspondence  and  other  means  he  had  a  knowledge  of 
the  leading  members  of  the  Order  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  and  so 
correct  was  he  in  his  estimate  of  their  characters,  that  seldom,  if  ever, 
was  he  mistaken  in  selecting  men  for  the  performance  of  special  service. 
In  communicating  his  wishes  to  those  he  selected  for  such  special 
service,  he  did  it  in  the  most  terse  and  concise  language,  and  yet  in  such 
clear  and  definite  terms  that  there  could  be  no  mistake  what  he  wanted 
done.  It  seemed  as  though  he  imparted  something  of  his  own  persona) 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  245 

magnetism  to  his  correspondence,  so  strongly  did  he  impress  himself 
upon  thope  whom  he  desired  to  respond  to  his  wishes. 

"  During  an  active  intercourse  with  my  fellow-men  for  more  than  half 
a  century,  in  which  time  I  have  been  brought  in  contact  with  many 
men  who  have  been  distinguished  as  orators,  leaders,  organizers,  and 
workers,  I  feel  warranted  in  saying  that  I  have  never  met  a  man  who, 
in  his  own  person,  in  all  these  respects  excelled  or  even  equalled  John 

B.  Finch." 

/ 

How  the  whole  order  trusted  and  honored  Mr.  Finch 
tributes  from  two  hemispheres  testify.  From  every  zone 
and  every  continent  came  cries  of  lamentation  when  Good 
Templary  lost  his  peerless  leadership. 

A  few  words  of  appreciation  from  friends  who  knew  and 
loved  him,  and  equally  warm  and  heartfelt  memorials  from 
others  who  only  knew  him  by  his  work,  are  selected  as  ex- 
pressive of  the  high  esteem  for  him  felt  by  members  of 
the  Order  throughout  the  world. 

"  We  only  knew  the  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar  officially — through 
his  many  labors  for  temperance  reform,  his  published  addresses,  and 
some  private  correspondence — yet  he  held  a  high  place  in  our  esteem  as 
one  of  the  most  able,  effective,  unwearied,  and  hopeful  leaders  in  the 
temperance  army.  It  is  consolatory  to  know  that  though  the  worker, 
and  even  the  leaders  in  the  work  fall  by  the  wayside,  the  work  goes  on. 
'  God  buries  His  workers,  but  carries  on  His  work.'  Were  it  not  so,  we 
should  be  ready  to  despair  when  such  men  as  John  B.  Finch  are  called 
to  their  rest  ere  their  task  appears  to  be  half  performed.  He  is  gone 
from  us,  and  we  see  him  not  nor  hear  his  voice  again,  but  the  influence 
of  such  a  holy  life  can  never  die  !  It  is  eternal,  and  cannot  cease  to  live. 
Inspired  by  the  memory  and  by  the  abiding  influence  of  the  short  but 


246  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

grand  and  purposeful  life,  many  shall  arise  to  carry  on  and  complete 
the  work  he  has  left  undone." — Temperance  Herald,  Dunedin,  New  Zea- 
land. 

"  Our  leader  is  dead.  The  man  we  all  loved,  whose  counsels  we 
prized,  whose  opinions  we  cherished,  whose  judgment  we  respected,  the 
master  hand  of  all  our  work,  he  who  planned  and  shaped  our  very 
being  as  an  Order,  is  gone  and  gone  forever."  —  Central  Good  Templar, 
Ohio. 

"  In  the  loss  of  our  illustrious  chief,  the  world  has  lost'  a.worthy  citi- 
zen and  HUMANITY  A  SINCEBE  FRIEND,  whose  life-work  will  be  remembered 
for  aye,  and  whose  memory  will  be  enshrined  in  Templar  history  for 
all  time." — Resolution  of  Executive  Committee  of  Grand  Lodge  of  Yorkshire, 
England. 

' '  John  B.  Finch  was  a  man  of  noble  impulses,  generous  to  a  fault, 
true  and  steadfast  in  his  friendships  ;  a  man  of  genius,  a  fine  logician, 
a  grand  debater,  unequalled  on  the  platform  ;  he  had  all  the  requisites 
that  Cicero  claimed  for  the  true  orator  :  sincerity,  integrity  of  character, 
brightness  of  imagination,  and,  above  all,  a  high  and  exalted  sense  of 
the  importance  of  his  subject,  and  a  passionate  belief  in  its  truth  in  the 
highest  and  purest  meaning  of  the  word.  Dignified  yet  forcible,  graphic 
yet  pertinent,  his  sentences  fell  like  ponderous  thunderbolts  to  con- 
vince. The  grand  man  has  gone  to  rest,  and  we  shall  not  soon  see  his 
like  again." — J.  J.  HICKMAN,  Past  Right  Worthy  Grand  Templar. 

"  My  feeling  toward  my  friend  and  leader,  John  B.  Finch,  was  differ- 
ent from  any  I  ever  entertained  toward  another  human  being.  It  was 
like  the  combined  love  for  wife,  brother,  son,  and  friend. 

"  When  he  disclosed  a  policy,  I  never  thought  of  questioning  its  wis- 
dom or  utility.  Our  relations  were  intimate,  because  I  relied  on  his 
judgment,  and  he  trusted  me  to  carry  out  his  plans.  While  I  live  I  shall 
never  become  reconciled  to  his  early  death.  To  me  he  seemed  generous 
to  a  fault,  true  as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  able  to  an  eminent  degree,  and 
a  Christian  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term.  Letters  from  five  continents 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCS.  247 

prove  that  he  was  loved  and  honored  by  people  in  all  lands,  who  think 
well  of  their  kind."— B.  F.  PAEKEB,  Right  Worthy  Grand  Secretary. 

"  Those  who  had  intimate  relations  with  Brother  Finch  have  been 
highly  favored.  Oh,  that  I  could  have  been  with  him  more,  when  both 
were  less  pressed  by  public- duties  ! 

"Able,  earnest,  logical,  eloquent,  and  full  of  soul,  he  never  failed  to 
reach  and  hold  his  hearer's  convictions  ;  the  right  word  and  act  ever  in 
the  right  place  ;  his  administrations  were  wise,  strong,  and  prosperous. 
He  loved  his  work  for  humanity's  sake.  Others  saw  it,  and,  as  to  a 
magnet,  rallied  around  him  with  a  hearty  support  on  all  his  measures. 
Christian  civilization,  world-wide,  has  lost  a  mighty  leader."— HON.  S.  B. 
CHASE,  Past  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar. 

"  His  character  as  revealed  in  the  story  of  his  life  from  early  manhood 
till  the  hour  of  his  death,  was  marked  by  perseverance,  zeal,  devotion, 
fidelity  to  principle  and  true  Christian  service,  which  won  the  love  and 
gratitude  of  millions,  and  recorded  his  name  in  our  annals  as  one  of  the 
noblest  of  the  world's  benefactors. 

"  In  the  lesson  of  the  '  golden  rule,'  he  formed  the  solid  foundation  of 
a  true  human  brotherhood,  and  in  the  precepts  and  example  of  the  great 
Master,  the  inspiration  for  his  daily  life." — KEV.  J.  H.  OKNE,  Past  Eight 
Worthy  Grand  Templar. 

"  His  manly  form,  apparently  so  healthful  and  vigorous,  induced  the 
hope  that  he  had  many  years  of  usefulness  ;  but  alas  !  it  has  been  other- 
wise ordered,  and  the  great  Master  whom  he  served  so  faithfully  and 
well,  has  sent  one  of  His  messengers  with  the  mandate,  '  Come  up 
higher. '  "We  cannot  call  him  back,  but  we  can  strive  to  follow  in  his 
footsteps  ;  and  if  I,  when  I  have  to  die,  can  look  back  upon  doing  a  little 
after  his  bright  example,  I  shall  feel  that  I  have  not  altogether  lived  in  vain. 

"  In  this  distant  colony  our  members  were  often  cheered  by  his  writ- 
ings, and  his  short,  pithy,  racy  letters  were  to  me  very  grateful  when 
disheartened  by  failures,  doubts,  and  difficulties.  I  always  used  to  look 
forward  to  the  pleasure  of  one  day  seeing  him  in  this  country,  and  have 


248  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

often  spoken  with  delight  of  the  hope  I  was  indulging.  In  one  of  his 
last  letters  to  me,  when  sending  as  he  did  very  kind  messages  of  remem- 
brance, he  added,  '  I  don't  at  all  give  up  the  idea  of  visiting  Africa,'  and 
I  have  over  and  over  again  tried  to  picture  to  myself  the  improvement 
in  the  condition  of  things  which  I  hoped  would  follow  his  advent  here." 
— REUBEN  AYLIFF,  Past  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  South  Africa. 

"  I  first  met  Brother  Finch  at  the  conference  on  reunion,  and  was  im- 
pressed at  once  with  his  manly  bearing  and  dignified  appearance. 

"  While  it  was  plain  that  he  was  a  born  leader,  there  was  a  gentleness 
and  persuasiveness  in  his  manner  which  compelled  his  associates  to  fol- 
low him,  unconscious  of  being  led.  He  exercised  the  same  effect  on  his 
hearers,  and  hence  the  great  good  he  was  able  to  perform  for  the  cause 
he  loved  so  well,  and  for  which  he  sacrificed  his  life." — WILLIAM  M. 
AKTRELL,  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Florida. 

"  For  nearly  four  years  I  knew  Brother  John  B.  Finch  intimately  and 
well.  In  uninterrupted  correspondence  with  him,  I  had  learned  to 
esteem  him  as  a  man,  honor  him  as  a  leader,  and  love  him  as  a  brother. 
God  gave  him  an  active  and  powerful  brain,  and  a  loving,  gentle  heart. 
Up  to  the  time  of  his  death  he  improved  God's  gifts  until,  when  called, 
he  went  in  the  fulness  of  Christian  manhood.  The  nation  has  lost,  the 
grandest  temperance  leader  it  had.  I  have  lost  a  dearly  loved  and  deeply 
mourned  friend  and  broth er/'-^E.  R.  HUTCHINS,  Grand  Chitf  Templar  of 
Iowa. 

"  Few  men  compress  so  much  and  such  good  work  into  a  long  life  as 
our  dear  'John'  has  put  into  his  few  years." — REV.  D.  C.  BABCOCK, 
Past  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Pennsylvania. 

"I  can  only  assure  you  that  we  all  loved  our  leader,  that  we  were 
prepared  to  stand  at  his  Bide  in  his  noble  self-sacrifice  for  humanity, 
and  that  to  you  we  extend  the  hearty  sympathy  of  brothers  and  sisters 
in  God." — From  a  letter  of  Rev.  William  G.  Lane,  Nova  Scotia,  Past  Eight 
Worthy  Grand  Templar,  to  Mrs.  Finch. 

"  Eight  years  of  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Finch  impressed  me  with  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  249 

master  qualities  of  his  mind  and  the  royal  attributes  of  his  heart.  In 
his  death  prohibition  has  lost  its  ablest  advocate. 

"Why  are  the  brightest  and  best  taken?  "We  cannot  answer,  and 
nothing  but  a  sublime  faith  in  the  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God 
can  reconcile  us  to  such  a  loss  as  this." — JAMES  A.  TBOUTMAN,  Past  Grand 
Chief  Templar  of  Kansas. 

' '  Not  as  '  a  stranger, '  but  as  a  friend  and  sister,  and  one  who  mourns 
in  common  with  the  whole  temperance  world,  I  mourn  the  loss  of  an 
honored  leader." — MBS.  M.  E.  RICHABDSON,  California,  General  Superintend- 
ent Juvenile  Work. 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  the  most  marvellous  man  I  ever  met.  He  was  a 
noble  leader  and  a  wise  statesman.  To  know  him  rightly  was  to  love 
him.  I  believe  he  had  a  greater  influence  over  men  than  any  man  I  ever 
knew.  He  spent  days  at  my  home,  and  was  always  full  of  happiness 
and  sunshine.  No  death  has  ever  affected  me  as  did  his,  for  I  loved 
him  so  much." — P.  J.  CHISHOLM,  Past  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Nova  Scotia. 
"  To  Mrs.  Finch : 

"  I  am  instructed  by  my  Executive  to  convey  to  you  their  heartfelt 
sympathy,  and  condole  with  you  in  your  sudden  bereavement.  We,  the 
members  of  the  Executive  of  New  South  Wales,  feel  that  a  great  and 
good  man  has  been  called  away,  a  man  and  a  brother  who  was  worthy  of 
admiration  and  high  esteem,  a  man  worthy  to  be  followed. 

"  His  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Templary,  and  his  efforts  to  secure  the 
total  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  are  well  known  to  us,  and  a  feeling 
of  deep  sorrow  at  his  loss  will  pervade  the  entire  membership  through- 
out the  world.  We  trust  that  God  will  raise  up  others  to  continue  the 
work  that  your  husband  has  had  to  relinquish,  and  that  your  natural 
grief  under  this  affliction  will  be  tempered  by  the  remembrance  of  his 
noble  life.  That  the  Almighty  will  comfort  and  sustain  you  is  our 
sympathetic  prayer." — JAMES  B.  PRICE,  Grand  Secretary,  for  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Grand  Istdge  of  New  South  Wales,  Australia. 

"  Denmark,  conspicuously  among  the  countries  of  the  Scandinavian 


250  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

group,  held  a  warm  place  in  the  heart  of  our  world's  Templar  leader  ; 
the  most  cordial  relation  existed  between  himself  and  Templar  Helmer 
and  Secretary  Morck  of  the  Danish  Grand  Lodge,  with  whom  he  fre- 
quently corresponded.  It  was  by  his  wise  directions  that  the  scattered 
lodges  of  Schleswig  were  united  and  placed  under  the  Right  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge,  also  that  a  successful  campaign  was  inaugurated  there, 
J.  Wollesen  and  P.  C.  Schmidt,  of  Apenrade,  Germany,  and  myself,  as 
his  lieutenants.  Denmark  was  among  the  first  to  respond  approvingly 
to  Brother  Finch's  plan  of  union.  He  cherished  the  hope  of  some  day 
visiting  those  interesting  countries,  and  it  was  only  three  weeks  before 
his  death  that  he  made  provisions  for  the  organization  of  a  Grand  Lodge 
for  Germany." — VICTOR  HOLMES,  Denmark. 

"  On  the  two  occasions  that  I  met  Mr.  Finch,  his  handsome  person, 
polished  manners,  and  expressive  countenance  impressed  me  with  the 
high  character  which  his  speeches  and  career  have  justified.  With  a 
loving  heart  was  combined,  in  an  eminent  degree,  a  quick  and  incisive 
intellect,  a  nature  lofty,  generous,  and  just,  and  a  decision  and  will 
which  fitted  him  for  a  leader  of  men." — DB.  F.  E.  LEES,  Past  Grand 
Chief  Templar  of  England. 

"  Though  he  had  passed  but  his  thirty-fifth  year,  he  was  the  acknowl- 
edged leader  of  the  temperance  and  prohibition  armies  of  the  world, 
and  had  addressed  more  people,  and  his  speeches  had  received  a  wider 
circulation  than  any  man  of  his  age.  His  days  were  few,  but  he 
filled  them  all  with  deeds  of  glory.  There  was,  there  is  no  purer, 
nobler,  grander  man." — E.  W.  CHAFIN,  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Wisconsin. 

"The  king  of  the  rostrum,  that  grand  old  temperance  warrior  and 
leader,  my  honored  friend,  comrade,  and  co-worker  is  dead.  Dead,  but 
yet  he  lives.  Old,  did  I  say  ?  Yes,  old  in  experience,  old  in  eloquence, 
old  in  wisdom,  old  in  judgment,  old  in  that  work  of  works  in  which  no 
other  man  has  done  a  greater  amount.  Old,  did  I  say?  Oh,  no  !  But 
thirty-five  years.  A  young  man  just  merging  from  the  budding  into 
the  blossoming  time  of  young  manhood,  yet  having  lived  more  years, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  251 

when  viewed  from  the  success  of  the  work  he  did,  than  any  man  of 
whose  history  I  have  knowledge.  ...  In  his  death  this  country — 
aye,  the  whole  civilized  world — has  met  with  an  irreparable  loss.  A 
brilliant,  glittering,  blazing  star  in  the  great  firmament  of  temperance 
workers  has  fallen,  and  there  is  no  man  to  fill  the  place  thus  vacated." 
-DE.  D.  H.  MA\N,  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  New  York. 

"  He  was  the  ablest  debater  upon  the  platform  that  I  ever  had  the  pleas- 
ure of  hearing."— PHIL  ALLEN,  Past  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Wisconsin. 

"  A  more  manly  man,  a  truer  friend  or  a  kinder  brother  we  will  never 
find.  As  a  leader,  he  was  without  a  peer.  The  loss  to  our  Order  is  be- 
yond estimate."— H.  B.  QUICK,  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Minnesota. 

"  I  have  never  intimately  known  a  man  with  more  individuality  than 
had  Brother  Finch.  He  impressed  himself  upon  all  his  work.  He  com- 
bined in  his  make-up  all  the  essential  elements  of  a  great  and  successful 
leader  of  the  Good  Templar  armies.  .  .  .  As  an  organizer  of  forces, 
he  was  without  a  peer. 

"  His  methods  were  unique  and  uniformly  successful.  He  would 
originate  and  formulate  his  plans,  then  discuss  them  with  his  trusted 
lieutenants,  and  having  gained  their  hearty  support  would  seemingly  be 
retired  from  the  contest.  But  all  the  time  he  was  the  general  who 
directed  their  movements,  and  they  would  fight  the  battle  and  win." — 
GEORGE  C.  CHRISTIAN,  Past  Grand  Counsellor  of  Illinois. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PROHIBITORY   AMENDMENT    CAMPAIGNS. 

So  much  one  man  can  do, 
That  does  both  act  and  know. 

Marvell. 

~TN  every  State  where  prohibitory  constitutional  amend- 
**-  ments  were  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  Mr. 
Finch  took  some  part  in  the  campaign. 

In  Kansas,  Iowa,  Ohio,  Maine,  Rhode  Island,  and  Michi- 
gan he  addressed  the  people  in  the  chief  cities,  meeting  in 
public  discussion  any  who  dared  to  offer  opposing  argument, 
and  answering  from  the  platform  and  through  the  press  the 
deceptions  and  sophistries  promulgated  by  the  friends  of 
the  dram-shops. 

To  the  managers  of  State  campaigns  he  seemed  a  tower 
of  strength,  and  they  always  felt  secure  against  all  attacks 
by  the  opposition  when  they  had  obtained  his  services. 

In  Kansas,  where  the  first  amendment  campaign  was  con- 
ducted, Mr.  Finch  expressed  to  the  State  Executive  Com- 
mittee his  willingness  to  go  into  the  frontier  counties, 
where  the  work  had  been  neglected  because  of  the  danger 
of  personal  violence.  In  several  of  these  counties  no 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  253 

organized  amendment  work  had  been  carried  on,  and  few 
votes  were  expected  for  the  measure. 

Mr.  Finch  spent  a  portion  of  the  time  for  which  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Nebraska  yielded  him  to  the  sister  State, 
in  the  endeavor  to  rouse  the  people  who  had  not  been 
reached  by  any  other  workers. 

When  the  reports  from  the  election  were  received,  the 
lines  of  travel  he  followed  could  be  distinctly  marked  by 
their  larger  percentages  of  favorable  votes. 

James  A.  Troutman,  Past  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Kansas, 
said  in  a  memorial  address  delivered  in  Topeka  : 

' '  I  had  known  Mr.  Finch  as  a  strong  local  temperance  worker  in 
Nebraska  for  two  years  before  our  great  and  decisive  campaign  for  con- 
stitutional prohibition  in  this  State  in  1880.  He  spent  six  weeks  in  the 
State  during  that  campaign,  and  we  were  together  much  of  the  time. 
From  that  time  until  the  date  of  his  death  we  were  steadfast  friends. 

"  The  Kansas  campaign,  especially  the  ten  days  spent  at  Bismarck 
Grove,  where  the  leading  temperance  orators  of  the  world  were  gathered, 
did  much  to  advertise  the  marvellous  powers  of  Mr.  Finch  as  a  speaker. 
The  youngest  of  more  than  a  score  of  orators,  known  to  but  few  at  the 
beginning  of  the  meeting,  he  was  acknowledged  king  of  the  rostrum 
when  it  closed.  Francis  Murphy,  preceded  by  a  world-wide  reputation  ; 
General  Sam  Carey,  whose  eloquence  and  wit  had  captivated  audiences 
for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century  ;  Governor  St.  John,  backed  by  the 
prestige  of  his  high  office  ;  George  W.  Bain,  one  of  the  most  charm- 
ing orators  that  ever  stood  upon  an  American  platform,  and  many 
others,  old  in  the  service  and  known  to  fame,  were  there.  John  B. 
Finch  came  unheralded,  and  spoke  from  the  same  platform  with  these 
men  and  to  the  same  audiences  not  once  only,  but  a  dozen  or  more 
times.  Bain  surpassed  Finch  in  the  pleasing  elegance  of  his  diction  ; 


254  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

St.  John,  in  the  fervor  of  his  utterances  ;  Carey,  in  the  mirth  and  wit  of 
his  addresses  ;  Murphy,  in  pathos ;  but  in  all  the  constituent  elements 
of  a  great  orator,  this  young  man,  who  was  a  babe  in  his  mother's  arms 
•when  the  others  began  their  public  career,  surpassed  them  all.  From 
that  date  Mr.  Finch's  reputation  spread  with  wonderful  rapidity. 

"  No  two  public  speakers  addressed  as  many  audiences  as  he  during 
the  last  seven  years  of  his  life.  His  were  not  mechanical,  stereotyped 
lectures.  Each  was  full  of  new  and  progressive  thought.  In  consider- 
ing the  temperance  problem  as  a  financial,  historical,  scientific,  and 
moral  question,  or  as  a  legislative  and  political  question,  John  B.  Finch 
was  the  most  accomplished  and  thorough  temperance  scholar  in 
America.  He  was  master  of  every  phase  of  this  absorbing  problem. 
His  mental  resources  seemed  illimitable.  I  have  heard  him  deliver  over 
forty  lectures  in  Kansas  and  elsewhere,  and  each  one  was  replete  with 
the  mighty  thoughts  of  a  prodigious  brain.  He  delivered  at  one  time 
sixty  successive  addresses  from  the  same  platform,  and  a  very  intelli- 
gent gentleman  who  heard  them  said  to  me  that  if  Finch  repeated  him- 
self during  the  whole  course  he  was  unable  to  detect  it.  This  seems 
improbable,  but  it  aptly  illustrates  the  breadth  of  his  information,  the 
depth  of  his  thought,  and  his  matchless  genius  and  versatility  of  expres- 
sion. While  he  was  eloquent  and  pleasing,  witty  and  sarcastic,  the 
predominating  characteristic  of  his  brain  was  of  the  massive  order,  and 
he  dropped  into  an  argument  with  remarkable  ease.  I  never  heard  him 
talk  five  minutes  that  he  did  not  begin  battering  down  the  walls  of 
sophistry  that  sustain  the  liquor  traffic,  with  that  tremendous  hammer 
of  logic  that  he  wielded  with  invincible  skill. 

"  When  I  read  in  the  telegraphis  columns  of  our  local  papers,  '  John 
B.  Finch,  Dead,'  my  mind  instantly  leaped  back  two  years  to  a  time  and 
circumstance  that  had,  up  to  that  moment,  been  forgotten.  Mr.  Finch 
and  I  were  sitting  upon  the  banks  of  Lake  Erie,  discussing  the  temper- 
ance work.  I  told  him  all  I  could  about  the  contest  in  Kansas.  He  told 
of  his  work— where  he  had  been,  and  what  success  he  had  gained.  '  1 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  255 

had  hoped, '  said  he,  '  to  have  some  rest  this  year,  but  the  calls  are  so 
numerous  and  so  imperative,  and  the  undeveloped  field  so  wide,  that  I 
will  have  to  put  it  off  again.  But,'  he  added,  '  unless  I  do  take  more 
rest  in  the  future  than  I  have  during  the  past  few  years,  you  will  some 
day  hear  of  my  sudden  death.'  But  he  went  on  and  on,  responding  to 
calls,  until  hia  own  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  Energy,  work,  thought, 
killed  John  B.  Finch.  Many  men  who  have  reared  for  themselves  im- 
perishable monuments  of  fame,  and  whose  names  have  a  lease  upon  im- 
mortality, first  made  their  reputation,  and  then  burned  and  cemented  it 
into  the  minds,  the  hearts,  and  the  affections  of  the  people,  by  a  long 
life  of  public  service.  If  John  B.  Finch  had  been  permitted  to  live  and 
labor  for  fifteen  years  longer,  until  he  reached  the  age  of  fifty,  he  would 
have  woven  for  himself  a  brighter  chaplet  of  renown  than  ever  encircled 
the  memory  of  a  departed  orator.  But  the  intense  activity  of  his  life 
robbed  us  of  a  great  and  useful  man  just  as  the  legacy  of  immortality 
was  about  to  be  bequeathed  to  him. 

"  Mr.  Finch  was  not  merely  an  agitator,  but  a  born  organizer  and 
leader.  He  was  the  most  systematic  and  symmetrical  advocate  of  temper- 
ance reform  that  has  ever  engaged  in  the  work.  A  Hercules  upon  the  plat- 
form,  in  advocating  advanced  legislative  and  political  action,  he  was  none 
the  less  strong  and  powerful  as  the  champion  of  educational  measures. 
He  proceeded  upon  the  correct  theory  that  every  reform  depends  for  its 
success  upon  the  intelligence  of  the  masses.  Popular  intelligence,  an 
enlightened  conscience,  are  written  in  burnished  letters  upon  the  face 
of  every  successful  reformation  in  history. 

"  He  sent  five  thousand  copies  of  '  The  People  vs.  The  Liquor  Traffic ' 
to  the  Kansas  State  Temperance  Union,  at  a  time  when  educational 
forces  were  needed  in  this  State,  at  less  than  it  cost  to  publish  them. 

"  The  loss  sustained  by  a  cause  yet  in  its  infancy  in  the  death  of 
such  an  agitator,  such  an  organizer,  and  such  a  leader  as  Mr.  Finch  is 
great.  Who  can  fill  the  vacant  place  ?  No  man  can  answer  ;  but  it  will 
be  filled.  This  great  cause,  to  which  so  brilliant  a  life  was  sacrificed,  is 


256  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

greater  than  any  or  all  of  its  advocates.  No  error  is  more  prevalent 
than  the  idea  that  a  great  cause  can  be  defeated,  or  even  retarded  in  its 
growth,  by  the  death  of  its  leaders.  Despair  and  death  have  never  been 
written  upon  the  face  of  any  just  cause,  and  in  the  Divine  adjustment 
of  forces  not  one  Finch,  but  a  score,  a  hundred,  a  thousand,  if  need  be, 
will  be  developed  to  carry  on  the  work.  Leaders  may  come  and  leaders 
may  go,  but  this  cause  will  go  on  until  its  final  triumph  is  achieved. 
As  Gough  and  Finch  died,  all  the  bright  and  courageous  leaders  may 
die  ;  but  others  no  less  brilliant,  no  less  intrepid,  will  take  up  the  cause 
and  hasten  the  victory.  The  withering,  blighting  curse  of  rum  will 
some  day  cease. 

"  Do  you  say  this  is  a  mere  dream  of  romance,  a  frenzy  of  fanaticism 
— that  this  evil  will  linger  to  the  end  of  time  ?  Then  the  regeneration 
which  God  has  extended  to  some  men  cannot  be  extended  to  others  ! 
Then  the  Gospel  of  Truth  is  a  failure,  and  preaching  is  vanity  !  Then 
wrong  shall  triumph  over  right !  Then,  in  the  great  antagonism  of 
forces,  vice  shall  prove  itself  siiperior  to  virtue  !  Then  the  Word  of  un- 
changeable truth,  that  righteousness  shall  cover  the  face  of  the  earth  as 
the  waters  cover  the  sea,  shall  be  demonstrated  a  failure  !  I  do  not 
believe  this.  You  do  not  believe  it.  It  is  not  true.  It  may  not  be  in 
my  time,  it  may  not  be  in  yours,  but  the  period  in  the  history  of  this 
work  will  be  reached  when  the  wails  of  sorrow  that  came  up  from  the 
unfortunate  victims  of  intemperance  will  cease  ;  when  its  dangerous 
and  pernicious  effects  that  now  permeate  every  department  of  life  and 
industry  shall  be  felt  and  feared  no  more  ;  when  the  track  of  desolation 
its  century  of  havoc  has  made  shall  blossom  as  the  rose.  Majestic  and 
powerful  as  he  was,  our  cause  will  survive  the  death  of  John  B.  Finch. 
I  have  no  sympathy  with  that  sentimentalism  that  says  the  loss  can 
never  be  repaired.  To  say  this  is  to  impugn  Omnipotent  power.  There 
ia  a  prevalent  distrust  of  the  men  and  agencies  of  our  own  time,  and  a 
pessimistic  scepticism  as  to  the  future,  that  ought  to  be  banished  from 
the  hearts  and  minds  of  intelligent  people.  No  age  in  the  world's  his- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH,  257 

tory  was  as  good  and  as  pnre  as  the  present.  No  age  has  produced  as 
able,  as  brilliant,  and  as  courageous  men.  Students  of  history  look  with 
admiration  upon  the  men  and  the  achievements  of  past  ages,  and  are  apt 
to  make  comparisons  unfavorable  to  the  present.  History  records  and 
perpetuates  only  the  virtues  of  men.  All  defects  of  greatness  slumber 
with  mortality.  Frailties  which  are  colossal  when  in  actual  view  are 
never  known  by  those  who  come  after.  And  when  the  infirmities  of  this 
age  follow  those  of  other  ages  into  oblivion,  and  all  the  master  monu- 
ments of  the  present  stand  out  in  bold  relief,  made  stainless  by  the  gen- 
erous offices  of  time,  the  student  of  history  will  mark  it  down  as  an  era 
which  records  the  noblest  and  purest  triumphs  of  men. 

"  No  man  in  all  the  history  of  moral  efforts  in  the  past  has  done  as 
much  and  given  his  life  as  a  sacrifice  to  a  great  cause,  when  but  thirty- 
five  years  old,  as  John  B.  Finch.  But  his  master  mind,  his  brilliant 
genius,  his  dauntless  courage,  were  aided  by  the  bold  and  felicitous 
promptitude  with  which  the  American  heart  and  conscience  take  hold 
of  public  questions. 

"In  an  age  of  intense  activity  no  sluggard  can  accomplish  good. 
When  a  man  can  stand  upon  a  platform  and  utter  great  truths  that  reach 
the  borders  of  civilization  within  twenty-four  hours,  it  quickens  percep- 
tion, stimulates  activity,  and  gives  him  a  wonderful  lever  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  purpose.  Great  movements  are  accelerated  by  this 
very  galvanism  of  the  thoughts  of  their  leaders.  And  it  takes  a  brain 
and  nerve  such  as  John  B.  Finch  possessed  to  utilize  the  matchless 
forces  of  the  present  in  conquering  the  vices  of  men. 

"  Such  men  as  he  impart  purity  and  strength  to  the  governing  influ- 
ences of  society." 

When  the  campaign  for  prohibition  in  Iowa  was  made  in 
1882,  Mr.  Finch  was  among  the  first  in  the  field,  and 
remained  till  the  election  was  over,  often  speaking  twice 
each  day.  His  physical  endurance  was  equal  to  the  strain 


258  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

till  the  last  hour  of  the  struggle,  but  when  the  great  contest 
was  over,  exhausted  nature  asserted  itself,  and  he  was  pros- 
trated by  a  severe  illness  on  election  day. 

It  had  been  agreed  that  all  who  had  participated  in  the 
platform  work  of  the  campaign  should  meet  at  Des  Moines 
on  that  day.  Whenever  these  workers  sought  admission  to 
his. room  at  the  hotel  they  were  cordially  welcomed,  and  in 
spite  of  his  weakness  and  pain  he  conversed  with  each  one 
about  the  work  that  had  been  done  and  the  prospects  of 
the  day's  voting. 

On  the  following  day,  when  it  had  been  ascertained  that 
the  amendment  was  carried  by  a  large  majority,  Mr.  Finch 
asked  Mr.  Sibley  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of 
Iowa,  to  be  signed  by  all  the  Good  Templar  workers  who 
had  assisted  in  the  campaign.  Although  he  was  so  ill,  he 
did  not  forget  that  the  great  victory  of  the  day  before  was 
but  a  single  battle  won  in  the  war  that  must  be  waged  until 
the  armies  of  rum  were  utterly  routed  and  disbanded. 

The  following  is  the  address  as  published  in  the  city 
papers  the  next  morning  : 

"  To  the  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars  of  Iowa. 

"  SISTEKS  AND  BROTHERS  :  We,  the  representatives  of  other  jurisdic- 
tions, who  have  been  with  you  in  your  struggle  for  constitutional  pro- 
hibition, ere  \ve  return  to  our  homes  to  continue  the  contest  in  our  own 
States,  desire  to  return  to  you  our  sincerest  thanks  for  the  hearty  cor- 
diality with  which  you  have  everywhere  welcomed  us  and  cheered  our 
hearts  by  your  kindness.  Hoping  we  have  been  helpful  to  you  in  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH.  259 

campaign  now  crowned  with  such  a  glorious  victory,  we  bid  adieu,  but, 
ere  we  part,  cannot  but  offer  a  few  words  of  advice  and  warning. 

"  In  the  hour  of  victory  there  may  be  danger.  When  the  enemy  has 
been  routed  and  the  weary  soldiers  bivouac  on  the  battle-field,  the  skil- 
ful general  does  not  forget  to  post  a  line  of  sharp-eyed  pickets  to  peer 
through  the  darkness,  watchful  lest  the  opposing  forces  return  and  sur- 
prise the  sleeping  camp,  wresting  hard-earned  laurels  from  the  victor's 
brow. 

"  Is  there  not  danger  that  some,  who  have  been  valiant  in  the  fight, 
untaught  in  the  wider,  underlying  principles  of  temperance  reform,  may 
now  lay  down  their  arms,  and  fold  their  "hands  in  the  delusive  dream 
that  their  work  is  ended  and  the  final  victory  won  ?  '  Good  laws  only 
wound  the  devil  ;  the  killing  has  to.be  done  by  hand.' 

"  For  thirty  years  Good  Templary  has  taught  that  moral  suasion  with- 
out prohibition  is  a  body  without  bones  ;  and  prohibition  without 
moral  suasion,  a  fleshless  skeleton.  The  union  of  the  two  makes  the 
strong,  vigorous,  and  active  living  organism. 

"  For  thirty  years  the  Order  has  sought  to  make  the  business  of 
drunkard -making  legal  and  moral  outlawry.  Your  State  has  now  accom- 
plished this.  The  drunkard  factory,  th«  gambling  hell,  and  the  house 
of  death  now  stand  on  the  same  legal  footing.  The  law  will  do  its  part, 
but  you  must  do  yours.  The  Christian  Church  cannot  abandon  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  because  law  protects  the  people  from 
violence. 

"  The  State  of  Maine  has  been  wise,  and  has  to-day  more  Good  Tem- 
plars in  proportion  to  population  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union, 
while  sister  organizations  are  equally  strong.  The  law  blocks  up  the 
road  to  crime  and  vice,  and  makes  the  road  to  manhood  easier.  Let  the 
Order  go  out  to  the  highways  and  byways  and  persuade  men  to  take  the 
brighter,  better  road.  The  law  having  closed  up  the  dram  shops,  you 
must  convince  the  victim  as  an  individual  that  it  is  unwise,  unmanly, 
and  foolish  to  try  to  dig  around  and  find  a  hidden  cesspool.  The  work 


260  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

of  the  Order  in  this  State  should  hereafter  be  wholly  educational.  The 
scientific  truths  concerning  the  effects  of  alcoholic  liquors  should  be 
widely  disseminated  by  speaker,  book,  paper,  and  document,  and  the 
moral  work  of  redeeming  fallen  men  should  be  pressed  vigorously.  A 
temperance  educational  campaign,  such  as  Iowa  has  never  seen,  should 
be  pressed  at  every  point.  It  may  be  asked  if  Good  Templars  shoiild 
not  devote  their  whole  time  to  enforcing  the  law.  We  answer,  No.  The 
Government  has  machinery  and  officials,  and  our  work  must  be  to  edu- 
cate the  people  so  that  only  officers  who  will  enforce  the  law  can  be 
elected.  Press  the  organization  of  lodges  until  there  is  not  a  town,  vil- 
lage, or  hamlet  but  has  a  Good  Templar  band.  Thus,  marching  on  the 
highway  of  success,  you  shall  plant  your  banners  on  the  hills  of  victory. 

"  THEODOKE  D.  KANOUSE,  P.B.W.G.T.,  Wisconsin. 

"JOHN  SOBIESKI,  P.B.W.G.C.,  Illinois. 

"  GEOEGE  W.  BAIN,  P.G.W.C.T.,  Kentucky. 

"  J.  W.  NICHOLS,  P.G.W.C.T.,  Illinois. 

"E.  W.  CHAFIN,  D.C.T.,  Wisconsin. 

"JOHN  B.  FINCH,  P.G.W.C.T.,  Nebraska. 

"FBANK  J.  SIBLET,  G.L.,  Nebraska." 

The  Des  Moines  State  Register  published  the  address 
with  an  editorial  comment  headed  : 

"THE   GOOD  ADVICE  OF  NOBLE  HELPEES." 

I 

"  In  the  great  struggle  for  the  amendment  in  Iowa,  the  fight  so  actively 

and  splendidly  made  at  every  step  of  its  progress,  the  temperance  people 
of  Iowa  have  had  the  great  help  of  as  strong  and  noble  a  band  of  workers 
as  ever  lent  their  services  to  any  cause  in  this  State.  Indeed,  we  believe 
never  before  in  the  history  of  Iowa,  or  indeed  in  its  contests  for  human- 
ity, have  so  many  strong  men  from  other  States  taken  part  in  our  strug- 
gles. With  an  ardor  like  soldiers  fighting  under  inspiration,  with  the 
strength  of  men  who  both  knew  the  courage  it  takes  to  lead  in  revolu- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  261 

tion  and  had  the  courage  to  do  it,  these  gallant  orators  from  sister  States 
have  done  as  noble  and  faithful  work  for  man  in  Iowa  in  the  past  few 
months  as  any  men  ever  did  on  the  hustings.  They  have  made  the 
struggle  their  own,  and  have  given  of  their  time  without  limit  of  sacri- 
fice, and  have  done  everything  and  anything  that  strong  and  generous 
men  could  do.  Indeed,  we  think  that  the  entire  nobility  of  this  cause, 
the  grandeur  of  heart  and  conscience  and  unselfishness  there  is  in  it, 
have  been  most  fully  proved  among  a  thousand  proofs  of  it,  in  the  great 
and  noble  work  that  these  outside  men  have  done,  in  leaving  their  own 
business,  their  own  States,  and  coming  here  to  help  carry  Iowa  without 
fail.  All  hail  to  this  noble  corps  of  Christian  workers,  and  God  bless 
them  and  make  the  generous  work  they  have  done  for  this  State  but  the 
guarantv  of  an  equally  noble  victory  in  their  own  States  for  the  cause 
that  is  so  near  their  hearts.  They  will  bear  with  them  always  the  grati- 
tude and  love  of  the  best  people  of  Iowa,  and  all  the  gates  on  our  bor- 
ders will  ever  stand  open  in  welcome  to  them  all. 

"  We  may  not,  with  justice  or  courtesy,  particularize  as  to  this  splen- 
did band  of  outside  workers,  nor  mention  one  by  name  to  praise  him 
more  than  others.  All  are  equally  deserving  of  praise  in  effort.  While 
some  may  have  had  more  power  and  ability  to  do,  and  eloquence  to 
plead,  all  have  equal  heart  and  equal  devotion,  and  all  will  be  equally 
preserved  in  the  gratitude  of  Iowa.  Not  the  least  valuable  in  their  work 
in  Iowa  is  their  card  of  thanks,  warning,  and  appeal  that  some  of  these 
gentlemen,  who  were  in  Des  Moines  yesterday,  left  to  the  custodians  of 
the  cause  and  the  guardians  of  the  victory  in  this  State.  We  publish 
it  below.  It  says  what  we  were  moved  to  say  ourselves,  but  which, 
being  so  much  better  said  by  these  gentlemen,  we  print  below,  endorsing 
every  word,  and  thanking  the  authors  of  it  for  making  it.  Its  words  are 
the  counsel  of  abounding  wisdom,  and  we  hope  it  will  serve  to  hold  the 
line  in  Iowa  for  the  rest  of  the  battle — a  battle  which  is  not  yet  a  quar- 
ter fought. " 

"When  the   Ohio   campaign  for   prohibition  commenced 


262  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

in  1883,  Mr.  Finch  was  one  of  the  first  to  receive  a 
call  to  come  to  the  State  and  help  carry  the  amendment. 
With  Senator  John  Sherman  and  gubernatorial  candidate 
J.  B.  Foraker  and  Governor  Charles  Foster  leading  the 
Republican  Party  and  denouncing  prohibition,  and  candi- 
date George  Hoadley  leading  the  opposition  to  it  from  the 
Democratic  side,  it  was  felt  that  the  strongest  and  ablest 
defenders  of  the  principle  would  be  constantly  needed  on 
the  platform  to  lay  bare  the  fallacies  and  sophistries  of  these 
distinguished  political  leaders. 

How  well  and  faithfully  Mr.  Finch  performed  the  diffi- 
cult labors  of  that  campaign  is  told  by  Mrs.  Mary  A. 
"Woodbridge,  the  able  and  skilful  general  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  who  conducted  the  campaign 
of  the  prohibition  forces  : 

"  I  knew  John  B.  Finch  when  he  wrought  as  one  who  thought  the  wel- 
fare of  the  nation  depended  upon  his  able,  skilful,  honest,  upright  dis- 
charge of  the  important  trust  committed  to  him. 

"  He  came  to  Ohio  in  June,  1883,  and  with  brief  exceptions  was  in  the 
State  until  the  close  of  the  prohibitory  amendment  campaign  on  Novem- 
ber 9th — more  than  four  months  of  unceasing  labor,  during  which  time 
he  never  referred  to  hardships — of  hours  early  or  late  ;  of  two  or  three 
addresses  a  day,  or  of  long  distances  travelled  to  meet  appointments.  All 
seemed  to  him  a  part  of  the  service  which  he  gladly  performed,  though 
sometimes  battling  with  disease. 

"  After  one  of  his  mighty  efforts  he  was  suddenly  stricken,  and  while 
patiently  enduring  untold  agony,  his  constant  fear  was  that  he  might 
fail  to  meet  an  important  engagement  the  following  day.  Under  the  in- 
fluence of  medicine  he  rested,  but  arose  with  the  morning.  Friends  who 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  263 

ministered  to  him  in  the  night  endeavored  to  dissuade  him,  but  in  vain. 
Firmly  he  said,  '  I  must  be  up  and  doing;  it  will  not  be  long.'  And 
thus  the  strong  soul  marched  on  !  He  was  never  baffled,  but  when  some 
new  phase  presented  itself,  he  would  diligently  study  the  problem,  until 
re-enforced  he  stood  before  his  opponent  a  battery  of  facts  and  figures, 
and  poured  them  forth  with  a  power  that  shattered  and  shrivelled  all 
objections.  He  carefully  examined  his  own  position,  and  as  keenly 
questioned  the  standing  of  others.  He  proclaimed  total  abstinence  for 
the  individual,  and  total  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic  for  State  and 
nation.  The  eloquence  of  his  deep  conviction  and  the  enthusiasm  of 
his  faith  encouraged  doubting  hearts. 

"  One  Sabbath  evening,  in  an  elegant  church,  he  found  no  minister  of 
the  Gospel  willing  to  ask  God's  blessing  to  rest  upon  his  service.  The 
President  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  troubled, 
but  when  the  Scriptures  had  been  read,  Mr.  Finch  calmly  rose  and 
poured  forth  his  soul  in  prayer.  Those  ministers  will  never  forget  the 
words  of  truth  that  fell  from  his  lips  that  evening. 

"  The  balance  and  versatility  of  his  mind  were  an  astonishment  to  his 
co -laborers.  He  was  by  nature  a  detective.  Nothing  that  could  be 
made  useful  in  the  warfare  in  which  he  was  engaged  escaped  him.  He 
was  the  first  to  learn  of  the  intrigue  by  which  the  amendment  was  to  be 
crushed.  Walking  to  and  fro  in  the  parlors  of  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  Headquarters  in  Cleveland,  he  turned  suddenly,  and 
addressed  me  : 

"  '  Sister  Mary,  our  cause  is  lost !  Ohio  politicians,  State  and  national, 
have  held  council  in  a  murderer's  den  in  Cincinnati,  and  the  word  has 
gone  forth,  "  The  amendment  must  not  carry."  Speak  it  not,  but  work  as 
for  life,  that  we  may  have  done  our  part,  and  the  curse  may  not  rest 
upon  us  as  unfaithful  servants. '  The  array  of  facts  I  presented,  the  en- 
couragement gathered  from  telegrams  and  letters,  were  all  in  vain.  He 
replied,  '  You  are  helpless  as  children  ;  the  prohibition  vote  is  to  be 
counted  out.  I  have  it  from  one  who  has  already  received  the  com- 


264  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.   FINCH. 

mand,  but  will  not  obey  it.'  He  first  discovered  that  the  amendments 
were  to  be  printed  incorrectly  upon  the  tickets  of  the  old  parties,  and 
aroused  our  overworked  women  in  various  places  to  almost  superhuman 
effort  to  counteract  the  effect. 

"  The  press  bitterly  assailed  him.  When  reading  the  cruel  attacks, 
his  thin  lips  would  compress,  his  matchless  eyes  would  flash,  but  he 
would  sit  in  silence  until  self  was  conquered,  then  calmly  say,  '  My  work 
will  bear  the  test  of  God  ;  they  will  not  dare  ,to  stand  before  Him  with 
those  falsehoods  upon  their  lips. '  Finding  his  popularity  ever  increas- 
ing, politicians  branded  him  as  a  traitor  ;  and  when  it  was  proclaimed 
that,  '  as  a  Democrat,  he  had  aided  and  abetted  secession,'  and  he  was 
asked,  How  shall  the  charge  be  met?  he  answered,  '  Give  the  date  of  my 
birth,  1852,  and  perhaps  they  will  not  only  recognize  the  falsity  of  their 
charge,  but  see  their  contemptible  meanness  as  others  see  it.' 

"  Mr.  Finch  did  not  begin  his  amendment  work  in  Ohio.  He  had 
before  struck  mighty  blows  for  the  cause  in  Kansas  and  Iowa,  and  had 
greatly  aided  in  creating  the  public  sentiment  that  secured  the  adoption 
of  constitutional  prohibition  in  those  States. 

"  A  compilation  of  his  speeches  had  been  published  under  the  title  of 
'  The  People  vs.  The  Liquor  Traffic. '  Through  the  generosity  of  Hon. 
Ferdinand  Schumacher,  the  Ohio  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
was  able  to  send  a  copy  of  this  work  to  each  minister  of  the  State. 
Thus  Mr.  Finch's  name  became  a  household  word  among  the  people. 
Before  his  arrival  the  demand  for  his  labor  was  far  in  excess  of  the  pos- 
sibility of  supply.  Frequent  appeals  were  received  for  his  return  to 
fields  where  he  had  stirred  the  people  to  action,  with  assurance  that  the 
community  would  vote  right  if  he  could  be  heard  again. 

"He  adapted  his  addresses  to  all  classes.  State  officials,  legislators, 
ministers,  magistrates,  business  men,  and  farmers  were  alike  impressed 
with  his  logic,  clear,  forcible  argument  and  pointed  illustrations.  He  felt 
his  personal  responsibility,  and  endeavored  to  impress  upon  others  the 
duty  of  extirpating  the  liquor  traffic  through*  a  vote  for  prohibition. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  265 

"  Ere  he  left  the  State,  the  eyes  of  the  nation  were  upon  him.  Drunk- 
ard-makers and  their  abettors  feared  him,  and  lovers  of  home  and  good 
government  rejoiced  in  him  with  thanksgiving.  Maine  and  Rhode 
Island  witnessed  his  heroic  labors,  and  when  the  battle  waged  in  Michi- 
gan he  again  buckled  on  his  armor  and  entered  the  hottest  of  the  fight. 
His  crowning  victory  was  his  debate  with  D.  Bethune  Duffield,  the  pro- 
slavery,  anti-prohibition  advocate,  of  Detroit. 

"  Temporary  victory  or  defeat  were  as  one  to  him  ;  he  worked  for  the 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Bethelehem — '  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
and  on  earth  peace,  good-will  toward  men, '  which  he  saw  could  not  be 
until  the  liquor  traffic  was  destroyed. 

' '  Ten  days  before  his  death,  when  a  similar  campaign  was  in  progress 
in  the  Territory  of  Dakota,  in  which  we  were  both  engaged,  there  came 
to  me  the  request,  '  "Wait  until  the  afternoon  train  ;  I  will  arrive  before 
noon.'  Never  had  I  seen  him  look  physically  better,  nor  listened  to  his 
speech  when  the  radiance  of  his  intellect  more  impressed  me.  He  told 
me  of  his  hopes  and  fears  for  the  crucial  year  1888,  and  seemed  as  one 
inspired.  As  I  entered  the  carriage  to  go  to  the  station,  he  said,  '  I  have 
told  you  what  I  believe  should  be  done  in  the  campaign  of  next  year  ; 
what  I  would  seek  to  have  accomplished  if  my  hand  were  on  the  helm  ; 
but  it  will  not  be  there  ! ' 

"  On  the  following  Wednesday  we  met  for  a  moment  at  Yankton, 
where  his  hearty  hand-shake,  pleasant  greeting,  and  kind  farewell 
cheered  and  strengthened  me.  But  five  days,  and  then  flashed  to  the 
civilized  world  the  words,  '  John  B.  Finch  is  dead  ! '  Not  a  nation  only, 
but  a  vast  host  from  North,  South,  East,  and  West  stood  dumb  with  sor- 
row, for  their  chieftain  was  gone  and  they  would  not  be  comforted. 

"  The  earthly  chrysalis  was  broken  on  that  memorable  night,  October 
3d,  1887,  and  the  wings  of  the  new  being,  illumined  with  heavenly  light, 
fluttered  in  the  zephyrs  of  the  eternal  morning.  He  put  on  the  fresh- 
ness of  perpetual  prime,  and  his  cheeks  were  mantled  with  eternal 
bloom." 


266  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

In  the  contest  for  the  adoption  of  a  prohibitory  amend- 
ment in  Maine,  in  1884,  Mr.  Finch,  as  the  representative 
of  Good  Templary,  stood  in  the  front  of  the  fight.  Thirty 
years  of  continual  defeat  had  discouraged  and  disorganized 
the  liquor  forces,  but  in  a  few  towns  and  cities  there  was 
some  activity  in  opposing  the  amendment.  The  principal 
danger  feared  was  that  friends  of  the  cause  would  feel 
secure  in  the  long-standing  statute,  and  neglect  the  oppor- 
tunity to  insure  permanence  by  incorporating  prohibition 
in  the  fundamental  law. 

To  every  danger  point  the  local  managers  sent  Mr. 
Finch. 

On  the  evening  following  the  great  victory  the  temper- 
ance people  of  Portland  gave  a  reception  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Finch  in  honor  of  his  work  in  the  State.  Mr.  Chase, 
Chairman  of  Committee  of  Arrangements,  presented  Mrs. 
Finch  an  elegantly  bound  volume  of  poems  with  these  words  : 

"  Mrs.  Finch,  we  appreciate  the  sacrifice  you  make  in 
giving  your  husband  to  the  service  of  humanity  in  his 
efforts  to  save  the  nation  from  the  curse  of  strong  drink. 
Your  home  is  often  very  lonely,  because  you  are  willing  to 
have  his  work  given  to  the  making  of  other  homes  happy. 
As  a  small  token  of  our  appreciation  of  this  noble  sacrifice, 
we  present  you  this  volume." 

That  grand  old  hero,  Neal  Dow,  of  Portland,  Me.,  says 
of  Mr.  Finch  : 

"  I  was  shocked  and  almost  stunned  by  the  news  of  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  267 

sudden  death  of  John  B.  Finch — such  a  blow  as  it  was  to 
the  temperance  cause  in  which  he  was  one  of  our  ablest  and 
most  successful  workers.  He  generously  helped  us  in 
Maine  during  our  campaign  for  constitutional  prohibition, 
and  his  work  had  a  large  share  in  obtaining  the  grand  re- 
sult, a  majority  of  47,075  in  favor  of  the  suppression  for- 
ever of  the  manufacture,  sale,  and  keeping  for  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors. ' ' 

While  the  Rhode  Island  Legislature  were  considering  the 
question  of  submitting  an  amendment  in  1886,  Mr.  Finch 
was  in  the  State  pleading  for  its  adoption  and  consulting 
with  State  leaders  upon  plans  for  a  campaign,  if  the  Legis- 
lature should  take  favorable  action. 

Unable  to  return  because  of  serious  illness  when  the  cam- 
paign opened,  yet  he  was  there  in  spirit  and  influence,  for 
he  donated  several  thousand  copies  of  his  speeches,  which 
were  widely  scattered  among  the  reading  and  thinking 
people  of  the  State,  and  no  doubt  contributed  toward  the 
victory  won  at  the  polls. 

H.  "W.  Conant,  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Rhode  Island, 
writes : 

V  Words  fail  to  express  my  estimate  of  Mr.  Finch  as  a  man  or  as  an 
advocate  of  our  great  cause. 

"  Mr.  Finch  contributed  essentially  to  the  success  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Amendment  campaign  in  Rhode  Island,  although  he  was  pre- 
vented from  taking  part  in  the  last  part  of  the  canvass  by  an  attack  of 
rheumatism  of  the  heart,  which  sent  him  to  his  home.  He  had  set  the 
ball  in  motion  in  the  distribution  of  literature. 


268  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

' '  Personally  he  was  to  me  a  very  firm  Iriend,  whose  advice  was  al- 
ways considered  most  valuable  in  the  work  of  the  Good  Templars  and 
all  other  phases  of  the  temperance  work  in  which  we  were  alike  in- 
terested. 

"  His  death  seems  to  be  an  irreparable  loss  to  the  cause,  but  He  who 
has  a  greater  interest  in  this  cause  than  we  can  have  will  overrule  it  for 
our  best  good. " 

In  the  campaign  for  the  amendment  in  Michigan,  in 
March,  1887,  Mr.  Finch  made  a  marked  impression  on  the 
canvass. 

A  telegram  came  to  him  while  he  was  "  in  the  field  " 
engaged  every  night  in  addressing  public  meetings  : 

"  Will  you  answer  D.  Bethune  Duffield  in  Detroit  Sat- 
urday evening,  March  26th  ?" 

"Weary  and  worn  with  his  constant  labor,  he  felt  unable 
to  comply  with  the  request,  and  telegraphed  back,  "  An- 
swer him  yourselves  ;  I  am  too  worn  to  prepare." 

The  committee  insisted  upon  his  coming,  and  sent  several 
very  urgent  telegrams,  which  finally  induced  him  to  give 
his  consent,  and  he  at  last  sent  the  following  answer  : 

"  Will  answer  Duffield  as  requested." 

The  great  anti-prohibition  meeting  addressed  by  Mr. 
Duffield,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  Detroit,  Professor  Kent, 
of  Ann  Arbor  University,  and  Senator  Jones,  of  Florida, 
was  held  on  Monday  evening,  March  21st,  and  Mr.  Finch 
received  the  published  reports  of  the  speeches  on  Wednes- 
day, the  23d,  leaving  only  three  days  for  preparation.  He 
analyzed  the  statements  of  the  three  speakers  carefully,  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  269 

was  impressed  with  their  recklessness  of  assertion  concern- 
ing the  positions  of  public  men  and  the  conditions  of  affairs 
in  prohibition  States.  He  determined  to  make  a  substan- 
tial refutation  of  what  he  believed  to  be  deliberate  false- 
hoods. Accordingly  he  sent  more  than  a  score  of  telegrams 
to  men  whose  position  had  been  misstated  ;  to  officers  of 
legislatures  charged  in  the  speeches  with  the  intention  of 
overthrowing  prohibition  statutes,  and  to  prominent  citizens 
in  the  States  where  prohibition  was  alleged  to  be  a  failure. 

Armed  with  the  answers  to  these  telegrams,  he  was  able 
to  add  crushing  weight  to  his  sledge-hammer  blows  against 
the  flimsy  framework  of  falsehood  and  sophistry  reared  by 
Duffield,  Kent,  and  Jones.  His  speech  made  a  profound 
sensation  in  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  and  they  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  cope  with  the  sturdy  truths  it  contained. 

The  speech  was  delivered  to  an  immense  audience  in 
Beecher's  Hall.  Mr.  Finch  said  : 

"  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  For  years  the  question  of  what  is  the  cor- 
rect policy  of  government  in  dealing  with  the  alcoholic  liquor  traffic  has 
agitated  this  State.  It  has  been  discussed  in  the  pulpit  and  upon  the 
platform,  written  about  in  the  press,  prayed  about  in  the  prayer-meeting, 
and  sworn  about  in  the  political  caucuses.  At  last  the  Legislature  of 
Michigan  in  its  wisdom  has  seen  fit,  by  proposing  an  amendment  to  its 
organic  law,  to  refer  this  whole  question  to  the  voters  for  their  decision 
on  the  4th  day  of  April  next.  The  question  involved  in  this  submission 
is  the  existence  or  non-existence  of  a  great  traffic.  Last  Monday  night 
in  the  Opera  House  in  this  city  a  mass-meeting  was  addressed  by  prom- 
inent speakers  in  opposition  to  the  proposed  prohibitory  amendment, 


270  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

and  I  have  been  asked  by  leading  citizens  to  come  here  to-night  and 
reply  to  the  statements  made  by  the  learned  gentlemen  who  addressed 
that  meeting. 

' '  First,  let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  difference  in  the  conditions 
under  which  the  two  meetings  are  held.  As  I  have  already  stated,  the 
issues  involved  in  this  campaign  are  questions  affecting  the  existence  of 
a  great  business--a  business  in  which  thousands  of  men  are  employed 
and  in  which  millions  of  dollars  are  invested.  I  hardly  need  stand  be- 
fore an  audience  of  this  character  and  urge  that  questions  involving  such 
interests  should  be  discussed  calmly  and  investigated  intelligently. 

<cOne  of  the  speakers  at  the  Monday  night  meeting,  the  Hon.  Charles 
W.  Jones,  from  the  United  States  Senate,  in  his  speech  asserted  :  '  This 
is  not  a  sentimental  age  ;  this  is  eminently  a  practical  age  ;  and  I  am 
sure  there  are  no  more  practical  people  in  the  world  than  the  people  of 
the  State  of  Michigan.'  His  experience  along  sentimental  lines  in  this 
State  will  preclude  me  from  challenging  his  judgment,  and  I  am  sure  if 
he  has  reached  this  conclusion,  the  fair  State  of  Florida  will  not  long  be 
without  a  second  representative  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  If, 
by  leaving  his  post  in  the  Senate  and  devoting  his  time  to  sentiment  in 
Detroit,  he  has  failed  to  make  the  people  of  the  State  of  Michigan  senti- 
mental, I  am  sure  they  are  not  a  sentimental  people,  but  are  fully  ready 
and  duly  competent  to  discuss  and  settle  an  issue  of  so  great  importance 
as  the  question  of  prohibiting  the  alcoholic  liquor  traffic. 

"  The  advocates  of  the  amendment  simply  ask  for  a  full  and  fair  in- 
vestigation of  all  the  facts  which  may  be  brought  forward  during  this 
campaign.  In  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people,  freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  investigation,  and  freedom  of  action 
is  the  only  guarantee  of  wise  and  conservative  legislation.  With  this 
thought  I  do  not  propose  to  challenge  the  intelligence,  the  motives,  or 
the  conscience  of  any  man  who  votes  against  this  amendment,  and  I 
only  regret  that  the  opposition  have  deemed  it  wise,  by  systematic  organ- 
ization, to  threaten  to  ruin  the  business  of  any  man  who  dares  speak  or 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  271 

write  or  vote  for  this  amendment.  Free  America  is  reaching  a  danger- 
ous point  when  the  Strohs,  the  Kuoffs,  the  Goebels,  before  they  can 
speak  the  American  language,  may  say  to  American  business  men,  '  You 
shall  not  examine,  discuss,  or  determine  matters  affecting  the  policy  of 
the  State.' 

"  The  meeting  on  Monday  night  was  held  under  the  boycotting  pres- 
sure of  the  saloons  of  the  city.  A  prominent  business  man  who  signed 
the  call  for  that  meeting  informed  me  to-day  that  at  the  time  of  the  sign- 
ing he  did  not  read  the  call,  had  no  knowledge  of  the  statements  that  it 
contained,  and  really  had  little  thought  of  what  the  meeting  meant  until 
he  saw  the  call  in  print,  and  said,  '  I  should  not  have  signed  it  had  not 
my  business  interests  been  threatened.'  I  submit  that  any  trade  or  in- 
stitution whose  only  defence  is  boycotting,  bulldozing,  and  intimidation 
is  entitled  to  very  little  sympathy  at  the  hands  of  intelligent  men. 

"  I  regret  very  much  that  the  gentlemen  who  addressed  the  meeting 
on  Monday  night  saw  fit  to  avoid  the  main  issue  involved  in  this  contest 
because  it  must  inevitably  create  the  impression  they  could  not  or  dare 
not  meet  it ;  and,  in  order  that  we  may  intelligently  consider  all  the 
points  raised  by  them,  let  me  examine  the  real  issue  and  state  the  object 
and  the  purpose  of  the  Prohibitionists  of  this  State.  This  is  made 
doubly  necessary  by  the  speakers  in  the  previous  meeting  placing  in  the 
mouths  of  Prohibitionists  words  which  they  never  used,  and  making 
them  assume  positions  which  they  never  maintained. 

"  All  the  speakers  distinguished  themselves  in  demolishing  a  man  of 
straw  of  their  own  creation.  Professor  Kent  said,  '  The  Prohibitionists 
say  we  are  in  favor  of  prohibition,  though  the  result  should  be  that 
whiskey  should  be  entirely  free.'  In  all  fairness  the  learned  professor 
should  have  stated  what  Prohibitionist  used  such  an  expression  and 
where  it  was  used.  It  is  not  an  honorable  act  to  manufacture  expres- 
sions to  place  in  the  mouths  of  opponents.  I  say  to  Professor  Kent  that 
Prohibitionists  have  made  no  such  statement.  Prohibitionists  attack 
taxation,  because  under  taxation  or  license  whiskey  is  free,  and  they  ask 


272  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

for  prohibition  because  in  the  light  of  experience  they  know  that  prohi- 
bition does  and  can  prohibit. 

"  The  proposed  amendment  simply  operates  as  an  indictment  to  bring 
the  liquor  business  into  the  court  for  the  people  and  place  it  on  trial  for 
crimes  against  society  and  government.  There  are  but  two  ways  in  our 
Government  for  trying  institutions  of  this  class — the  one  autocratic,  by 
the  Legislature  ;  the  other  democratic,  by  the  people.  The  Legislature 
of  this  State  might  have  passed  a  prohibitory  law  outlawing  the  liquor 
business,  but  such  a  law  would  have  been  the  opinion  of  a  majority  of 
the  members,  and  would  have  been  entitled  to  .the  respect  accorded  to 
the  judgment  and  conscience  of  that  number  of  men.  The  cry  would 
have  been  at  once  raised  that  it  was  in  advance  of  public  sentiment,  that 
the  people  were  not  educated  up  to  the  position,  and  the  liquor-sellers, 
using  these  cries,  would  have  organized  to  defy  the  statute  and  to  con- 
tinue their  business  in  violation  of  law.  The  Legislature,  in  my  judg- 
ment, chose  the  correct  method  when  they  referred  the  whole  question 
to  the  people.  Constitutional  amendment  is  the  American  method  of 
revolution.  The  provision  for  a  peaceable  change  in  the  principles 
underlying  our  Government  provides  for  a  revolution  by  ballots  instead 
of  a  revolution  by  bullets  ;  and  when  Mr.  Duffield  steps  out  of  his  way  to 
impugn  the  intelligence,  the  honesty,  the  integrity,  and  the  conscience 
of  the  Legislature  by  saying,  '  Political  manoeuvring  and  tactics  rather 
than  an  honest  opinion  on  the  part  of  two  thirds  of  the  Legislature  that 
this  amendment  is  called  for  is  the  secret  of  its  submission, '  he  weak- 
ens his  case  by  introducing  special  pleading  to  justify  this  attack.  When 
he  says  :  '  We  recall  the  fact  also  that  in  1868  an  amendment  was  sub-- 
mitted  to  the  people  prohibiting  license  of  the  sale  of  liquor  as  a  bever- 
age, and  it  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  13,000  votes,1  and  forgets  to 
state  that  the  clause  prohibiting  the  license  of  the  sale  of  liquor  as  a 
beverage  was  in  the  old  Constitution,  which  it  was  proposed  to  overturn 
by  the  new  one  at  the  same  election,  and  that  the  new  Constitution 
was  defeated  by  39,000  votes,  he  must  think  that  the  old  people  of  this 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FlNCS.  273 

State  have  short  memories  and  that  the  young  people  do  not  read  his- 
tory. And  when  he  stated  that  in  1876  '  the  people  struck  out  from  our 
present  Constitution  the  old  equivocal  clause  forbidding  the  license  of 
liquor  selling,'  and  neglects  to  state  that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State, 
by  its  decisions  sustaining  tax  laws,  had  made  the  clause  utterly  worth- 
less, so  that  it  was  voted  against  by  temperance  men,  he  leaves  the  posi- 
tion of  a  lawyer  and  descends  to  the  level  of  a  pettifogger.  Should  the 
Legislature  have  submitted  the  amendment  ?  For  years  the  people  of 
this  State  have  discussed  the  relation  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  our  free 
Government  and  civilization.  Time  and  again  the  Legislature  has  been 
petitioned  to  submit  this  question  to  the  people  ;  a  political  party  cast- 
ing 25,000  votes  at  the  last  election  has  been  organized  on  this  issue 
alone  ;  and  you  must  admit  that  if  there  was  ever  a  question  which  cir- 
cumstances justify  submitting  to  the  people  for  their  examination  and 
final  determination,  it  is  the  question  of  what  shall  be  done  with  the 
alcoholic  liquor  traffic  in  the  State  of  Michigan.  But  all  side  issues  are 
out  of  place  in  this  discussion.  The  fact  is  that  the  amendment  has 
been  submitted,  and  that  on  the  4th  of  April  the  question  of  its  adoption 
or  its  rejection  will  be  settled.  The  issxie  involved  is  the  life  or  the 
death  of  the  drunkard-making  traffic.  The  business  of  liquor-selling 
and  making  drunkards  is  on  trial,  not  the  men  who  are  in  the  business. 
The  issues  raised  are  not  personal  issues.  If  there  is  any  liquor- seller 
in  Detroit  who  labors  under  the  delusion  that  he  is  of  importance 
enough  to  have  this  temperance  movement  aimed  at  him,  he  has  a  very 
much  better  opinion  of  himself  than  we  have.  If  you  could  catch  every 
liquor -seller  in  the  State  of  Michigan  to-night,  tie  him  hand  and  foot 
and  drown  him  in  the  Detroit  Kiver,  unless  you  could  root  up  the  ac- 
cursed law  which  propagates  liquor-sellers  as  a  hot-bed  propagates  vege- 
tation, you  would  have  another  crop  in  three  months  just  as  mean  as 
the  old  one.  Bat  if  you  root  up  the  law  that  makes  legal  a  business  in 
which  a  man  can  make  more  money  with  less  capital  and  less  brains  and 
less  character  than  any  other  business  on  earth,  the  good  men,  if  there 


274  THE  LIFE  Of1  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

are  any  such  in  the  business,  will  go  into  other  trades  and  professions, 
and  the  mean  men  will  fetch  up  in  State  prisons,  where  they  should 
have  been  long  ago.  The  liquor  business  is  simply  on  trial  on  account 
of  the  record  it  has  made  in  society.  Society  never  tries  men  or  institu- 
tions for  their  names.  It  tries  men  for  their  acts,  institutions  for  their 
results.  The  law  of  this  State  would  recognize  one  difference  between 
me  and  my  friend  David  Preston.  It  would  recognize  me  as  an  alien,  it 
would  recognize  him  as  a  citizen  ;  but  though  I  am  an  alien,  though  I 
pay  no  taxes  in  this  State,  I  am  as  safe  as  my  friend — that  is,  as  long  as 
1  behave  myself  as  well  as  he  behaves  himself  ;  but  if  at  the  close  of 
this  meeting  I  should  go  out  of  the  hall,  and  as  I  went  out  should  draw 
a  knife  from  my  coat  and  bury  it  to  the  hilt  in  the  heart  of  some  person, 
then  I  would  be  arrested  and  locked  up,  and  he  would  be  allowed  to  go 
home.  Now  you  would  not  arrest  me  because  my  name  is  Finch,  and 
let  him  go  because  his  name  is  Preston.  You  would  not  arrest  me  be- 
cause I  am  a  lawyer,  and  let  him  go  because  he  is  a  banker.  You  arrest 
me  because,  of  my  own  free  will,  I  had  taken  human  life.  lor  the  act  I 
would  be  arrested,  for  the  act  I  would  be  tried,  for  the  act  I  would  be 
hung  ;  and  as  society  would  deal  with  me,  it  would  deal  with  anybody 
before  me.  As  long  as  man  lives  in  society  sober,  temperate,  honest,  so 
long  society  defends  and  protects  him  ;  but  when  a  man  wills  to  com- 
mit crime,  wills  to  injure  another  socially  or  financially,  then  the  Gov- 
ernment reaches  out  and  takes  that  man  from  the  ranks  of  other  men 
and  tries  him,  not  for  what  the  Government  has  done,  but  for  what  he 
has  done  ;  not  because  it  wants  to,  but  because  it  must  do  it.  The  pun- 
ishment is  not  the  result  of  the  act  of  the  Government,  but  the  result  of 
the  act  of  the  man  who  made  the  punishment  necessary.  As  society 
deals  with  men  it  deals  with  institutions  and  trades. 

"  As  long  as  an  institution  or  a  business  or  a  trade  promotes  the  in- 
terest of  society,  so  long  the  Government  defends  and  protects  that 
trade  ;  but  when  a  trade  or  a  business  establishes  a  criminal  character 
by  the  production  of  vice,  crime,  pauperism,  and  misery,  then  the  Gov- 


THE  LITE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  275 

ernment  arrests  the  business  and  tries  it  for  its  results.  In  this  way  the 
Governments  of  most  of  the  States  have  tried  and  condemned  lotteries. 
The  Governments  of  cities  try  and  suppress  slaughter-houses,  fat-render- 
ing establishments,  soap  factories,  and  gunpowder  factories,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  has  tried  and  is  punishing  the  practice  of 
polygamy  by  the  Brighamite  Mormon  Church.  The  Prohibitionists  ask 
that  the  alcoholic  liquor  traffic  as  represented  by  the  saloon,  the  beer 
garden,  the  dance  hall,  the  concert  saloon,  the  dive,  the  brothel,  and  the 
gambling  hell  shall  be  tried  exactly  as  the  Government  tries  lotteries, 
slaughter-houses,  and  the  Mormon  Church.  The  charges  against  the 
liquor  business  are  plain,  positive,  definite,  and  specific  ;  the  question 
raised  is  simply  the  guilt  or  the  innocence  of  this  business  as  a  social 
institution,  and  if  guilty  the  proper  punishment  for  crime  of  such 
enormity  is  entire  destruction  of  the  business. 

"I  will  not  to-night  take  time  to  prove  the  guilt  of  the  alcoholic 
traffic.  The  men  in  the  business  concede  its  guilt.  This  trial  has  now 
been  going  forward  for  weeks,  and  no  one  has  stood  in  the  pulpit  or  on 
the  platform  to  defend  the  history,  the  record,  or  the  results  of  the  alco- 
holic liquor  traffic  as  a  social  institution.  If  the  Church  had  been  as- 
sailed, the  Church  would  have  been  defended  ;  if  the  dry-goods  trade 
had  been  assailed,  the  dry-goods  trade  would  have  been  defended  ;  if  the 
school  had  been  assailed,  it  would  have  been  defended  ;  but  here  is  a 
great  business  on  trial  for  its  life  ;  the  men  engaged  are  worth  millions 
of  dollars  ;  no  one  can  doubt  their  ability  to  employ  talent  to  present 
their  case,  if  they  have  any  case  to  present,  and  yet  this  trial  is  drawing 
to  a  close  without  a  single  defender  standing  before  the  people  to  urge 
the  innocence  of  the  charge  made  against  it,  to  justify  its  record,  or  to 
claim  by  its  own  merits  that  it  ought  to  be  allowed  to  live.  If  you  assail 
the  Democratic  Party,  the  man  who  defends  it  is  a  Democrat  ;  if  you 
assail  the  ^Republican  Party,  the  man  who  defends  it  is  a  Eepublican  ; 
if  you  assail  the  Methodist  Church,  the  man  who  defends  it  is  a  Method- 
ist ;  but  if  you  assail  the  liquor  traffic,  the  man  who  steps  up  to  defend 


276  THE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

it  claims  to  be  just  as  good  a  temperance  man  as  you  are.  The  meeting 
of  Monday  night  is  a  sample  of  meetings  held  in  defence  of  this  system. 
The  farmer  who  goes  out  to  defend  the  interests  of  the  farmers  wears 
the  weapons  of  a  farmer  ;  the  printer  wears  the  armor  of  his  trade  ;  the 
merchant  wears  the  armor  of  his  craft  ;  but  the  apologist  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  liquor  traffic  commences  his  speech  with  the  statement, 
'I  am  a  temperance  man,'  and  denies  that  he  represents  the  liqnor  in- 
terest or  is  friendly  to  its  continuance.  In  justice  to  my  cause,  I  call 
your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  saloon-keepers  of  this  State  unani- 
mously indorse  the  speeches  of  the  Monday  night  meeting,  and  that  they 
are  circulating  those  speeches  by  thousands  over  the  State.  A  minister 
who  would  preach  a  sermon  which  could  be  indorsed  and  circulated  by 
the  devil  to  sustain  and  promote  sin  should  be  expelled  from  the  Chris- 
tian pulpit  A  temperance  doctrine  which  is  indorsed  by  the  brewers, 
the  distillers,  the  saloon-keepers,  the  dive-keepers,  and  circulated  by 
them  as  a  defence  of  their  trade  should  be  repudiated  by  all  enemies  of 
drunkenness,  immorality,  and  vice.  Mr.  Duffield,  Mr.  Kent,  and  others 
protest  again  and  again  that  they  do  not  represent  the  liquor  interests. 
Why  this  reiterated  protestation  ?  Why  is  it  necessary  for  them  to  con- 
stantly affirm  that  they  are  temperance  men  ?  Is  it  because  they  feel 
the  pressure  of  the  old  rule  :  '  A  man  is  known  by  the  company  he 
keeps,'  and  because  they  know  the  indorsement  and  support  of  the 
liquor-sellers  throws  doubt  on  them  and  this  doctrine  ?  The  speech  I 
shall  make  here  to-night  will  not  be  circulated  by  the  liquor-sellers  of 
this  State,  and  I  do  not  envy  the  speakers  of  Monday  night  their  cham- 
pions and  their  defenders. 

' '  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  would  go  half  way  around  the  world  once 
and  pay  my  own  fare  to  find  a  man  with  cheek  hard  enough  and  impu- 
dence great  enough  to  stand  on  the  public  platform  and  claim  that  the 
public  bar-room,  judged  by  its  history,  its  record,  and  its  results  in  this 
country,  was  entitled  to  live  in  any  decent  State,  in  any  decent  nation. 
I  have  never  heard  such  a  defence,  I  never  shall.  The  business  is  guilty, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.    FINCH. 


guilty,  guilty,  and  the  only  question  is  the  method  of  dealing  with  the 
criminal. 

But  two  methods  are  proposed — the  one  license  or  tax,  the  other  pro- 
hibition. I  hardly  need  stand  here  to  demonstrate  that  license  and  tax 
in  their  effects  upon  the  liquor  trade  are  identical.  I  appreciate  the 
sneer  of  Mr.  Duffield  when  he  says,  '  Shall  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry,  hired 
at  $10  or  $20  a  night,  go  on  the  stump  of  prohibition,  and  claim  that  taxa- 
tion is  identical  with  license  ? '  I  regret  as  much  as  Mr.  Duffield  can 
that  the  poverty  of  our  clients  will  not  justify  our  receiving  a  larger  fee  ; 
but  our  misfortune  is  his  gain,  for  our  clients  have  been  made  paupers 
by  his  clients.  We  stand  here  to  defend  the  drunkards'  wives,  the 
drunkards'  children,  and  the  drunkards'  homes.  He  stood  on  the  plat- 
form to  oppose  the  destruction  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  millions  of 
dollars  in  the  liquor  business  of  this  State  have  been  drawn  from  the 
homes,  from  the  wives  and  the  children  of  Michigan.  I  would  rather 
stand  before  this  audience  to  plead  in  behalf  of  the  wrecked  woman  and 
the  ruined  child  for  nothing,  than  to  stand  to  plead  in  behalf  of  the 
bloated  oligarchy  of  liquor-sellers  for  all  the  money  in  the  blood-stained 
coffers  in  that  trade  in  the  State.  His  sneer  was  undoubtedly  made  to 
cover  the  weakness  of  his  position  ;  let  us  inquire  what  are  the  facts  in 
regard  to  the  identity  of  these  two  methods.  Under  license,  grog-shops 
exist  and  are  protected  by  the  State  ;  under  tax,  grog-shops  exist  and 
are  protected  by  the  State.  Mr.  Duffield  says  :  '  Were  they  familiar  with 
the  Michigan  law  they  would  drop  their  license  feature  and  adopt  the 
taxation  and  regulation  style.'  Taxes  are  levied  for  two  purposes — rev- 
enue and  regulation  ;  and  Mr.  Duffield  admits  that  the  tax  law  combines 
both  of  these  features.  Judge  Cooley  says  :  '  The  protection  of  Govern- 
ment being  the  consideration  for  which  taxes  are  demanded,  all  parties 
who  receive  or  are  entitled  to  that  protection  may  be  called  upon  to  ren- 
der an  equivalent.'  I  pay  taxes  on  my  home  for  the  protection  that 
Government  gives  that  home.  Under  license  the  man  who  has  paid  the 
license  fee  is  entitled  to  the  protection  of  Government,  and  Mr.  Duffield 


278  TSE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

will  not  dare  claim  that  under  taxation  the  man  who  has  paid  the  tax  is 
not  entitled  to  protection  !  If  a  mob  should  attack  a  saloon,  would  not 
the  Government  be  compelled  to  defend  it  ?  Is  there  any  legal  process 
by  which  the  saloon  may  be  destroyed  if  it  complies  with  the  tax  law  ? 
Is  not  a  saloon-keeper  who  pays  the  tax  entitled  to  protection  and  de- 
fence from  civil  government  ?  Mr.  Duffield  says,  'Taxes  are  burdens,' 
but  he  is  too  good  a  lawyer  not  to  know  the  burden  is  borne  for  the 
greater  benefit  of  the  protection  afforded  by  the  Government,  to  support 
which  the  tax  is  levied.  Juggle  with  words  as  much  as  you  please,  and 
you  will  not  be  able  to  show  any  difference  in  the  effects  of  the  saloon 
which  under  regulation  pays  $500  license,  and  the  saloon  which  under 
taxation  pays  $500  tax.  Government  permits  everything  that  it  does  not 
prohibit.  Under  your  old  prohibitory  law  the  liquor  business  had  no 
existence  in  Michigan,  and  there  were  no  property  rights  in  liquor.  To- 
day under  your  tax  law  the  liquor  business  has  a  legal  existence  in  this 
State,  and  there  are  property  rights  in  liquor.  Now,  what  gives  it  this 
legal  existence  and  what  creates  these  property  rights  if  it  is  not  the  tax 
law  ?  To  say  that  the  Government  which  recognizes  the  existence  of  the 
saloon  by  receiving  tax  from  it,  and  which  recognizes  the  evil  effects  of 
the  existence  of  the  saloon  by  providing  for  its  regulation,  does  not 
sanction  its- existence  under  those  regulations,  is  to  talk  nonsense.  And 
when  the  learned  Professor  Kent,  from  the  Law  Department  of  Ann 
Arbor  University,  confounds  the  taxing  power  of  the  general  Govern- 
ment with  the  police  power  of  the  State,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
the  country  is  full  of  poor  lawyers.  And  when  he  says,  '  When,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  war,  it  was  necessary,  by  Federal  legislation,  to  tax  the 
sale  of  liquor,  the  liquor-dealers  undertook  to  say  that  in  consequence 
of  that  tax  their  business  was  protected  in  cities  where  the  law  forbade 
it,  they  took  the  case  to  the  Supreme  Court  of,  the  United  States,  and 
that  court  decided  that  taxation  was  not  license  and  no  approval  of  the 
business,'  the  learned  professor  should  know  and  ought  to  have  stated, 
that  the  decision  was  that  the  tax  permit  of  the  general  Government  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  279 

no  bar  to  proceedings  against  the  liquor  business  under  the  police 
power  of  the  States  ;  and  with  his  intelligence  I  am  sure  he  would  not 
wish  to  be  understood  as  holding  that  the  payment  of  the  $25  tax  to  the 
Federal  Government  is  not  a  bar  to  proceedings  against  the  liquor  busi- 
ness by  the  general  Government  under  its  present  law.  While  the 
United  States  tax  will  not  act  as  a  permit  in  the  State  as  against  the 
police  power  of  the  State,  it  does  act  as  a  permit  by  the  general  Govern- 
ment against  its  own  power.  But  the  point  I  wish  to  maintain,  outside 
of  all  legal  technicalities  and  quibbles,  is  that  the  social  effects  of  a 
licensed  saloon  and  the  social  effects  of  a  taxed  saloon  are  identical. 

The  quibbling  and  twisting  over  the  distinction  between  taxation  and 
license  is  a  confession  on  the  part  of  the  advocates  of  tax  that  the  liquor 
business  is  wrong.  If  it  is  not  wrong,  why  object  to  licensing  it?  If 
the  liquor  business  is  right,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Government 
should  not  license  and  permit  its  existence.  If  the  liquor  business  is 
wrong,  then  to  seek  to  justify  its  existence  upon  the  ground  that  the 
Government  has  not  specially  said,  while  deriving  benefits  from  the 
traffic,  that  the  traffic  may  exist,  is  the  trick  of  a  sophist.  But,  for  the 
sake  of  the  argument  to-night,  let  us  grant  that  there  is  a  difference  be- 
tween license  and  tax,  and  say  that  the  methods  of  punishment  for  the 
liquor  crime  now  being  discussed  in  this  State  are  tax  and  prohibition. 
From  this  point  I  desire  to  go  forward  to  prove  that  of  all  the  humbugs, 
frauds,  and  failures  ever  written  upon  the  statute-books  of  a  free  State, 
the  liquor  tax  laws  of  this  country  are  the  worst  ;  that  they  never  have 
been  enforced  ;  that  they  never  will  be  enforced  ;  that  they  never  can 
be  enforced.  First,  because  they  are  wrong  in  theory.  There  appear  in 
society  three  classes  of  institutions  :  good,  part  good  and  part  bad, 
and  bad.  Government  protects  and  defends  the  good,  regulates  and 
restrains  the  part  good  and  part  bad,  and  prohibits  the  bad.  Regula- 
tion implies  something  good  in  the  thing  regulated  that  is  to  be  devel- 
oped by  regulation.  You  regulate  to  develop,  not  to  destroy.  You  take 
your  boy  across  your  knee  and  regulate  him,  to  develop  the  good  traits 


280  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

and  repress  the  bad  traits  in  the  boy  ;  you  do  not  regulate  to  kill.  You 
take  the  whip  in  your  hand  to  regulate  the  ugly  horse,  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  develop  the  good  tendencies  and  destroy  the  bad  tendencies.  In 
one  corner  of  your  yard  is  an  apple-tree,  crooked  as  a  horn.  Shall  it  be 
pulled  up  ?  No.  The  apple-tree  is  good,  the  crooks  are  bad.  You 
drive  down  a  stake  to  regulate  the  crooks  out  of  it,  because  in  after  years 
the  tree  will  reward  the  labor.  In  the  other  corner  is  a  thorn-bush  as 
crooked  as  the  apple-tree.  Do  you  regulate  that  ?  No,  because  it  is 
utterly  worthless,  and  the  time  spent  in  regulation  would  be  useless. 
There  in  a  lot  is  a  calf  with  a  broken  leg.  What  do  you  do  ?  Regulate 
the  leg  so  as  to  mend  the  bad  fracture,  and  in  after  years  the  cow  pays 
for  the  labor.  In  another  lot  is  a  mad  dog  with  a  broken  leg.  Do  you 
ever  regulate  that  leg  ?  No.  The  more  you  fuss  with  the  animal,  the 
worse  off  you  are.  It  is  utterly  bad  ;  the  remedy  is  to  prohibit  exist- 
ence. In  your  lot  stands  a  large  apple-tree  with  knotty  limbs,  with  little 
runts  of  apples.  Will  you  cut  it  down  ?  No.  Regulate  it,  trim  it  up, 
and  graft  it.  Ten  years  pass  away  and  here  is  a  large  apple,  the  legiti- 
mate fruit  of  regulation  ;  but  regulate  the  grog-shops  of  Detroit  with 
your  accursed  tax  law  from  now  until  Gabriel  blows  his  trumpet,  and 
the  last  fruit  you  will  pick  off  the  accursed  things  is  the  same  you  get 
to-day — '  bummers  '  every  time.  Do  you  expect  you  can  ever  regulate 
the  grog-shop  so  as  to  produce  Christians  ?  that  you  can  ever  regulate  it 
so  that  its  customers  will  be  good  men,  their  wives  happy  and  their 
children  happy  ?  Do  you  not  know  that  as  long  as  you  permit  the  thing 
to  exist,  that  just  in  the  same  proportion  it  will  breed  drunkards, 
broken-hearted  women,  and  beggar  children  ?  It  is  bad  and  all  bad,  vile 
and  all  vile,  evil  and  all  evil,  and  should  be  destroyed  The  system  of 
taxation  and  regulation  has  been  tried  in  England  for  more  than  four 
hundred  years,  and  under  it  the  liquor  business  has  grown  to  be  the 
master  of  the  British  nation.  In  this  country,  under  the  system  of  reg- 
ulation and  taxation,  the  liquor-shops  have  doubled  in  numbers  within 
the  last  twenty-five  years.  There  is  not  a  lawyer  before  me  who  does 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  F1NOH.  281 

not  know  that  it  will  not  take  one  half  the  force  to  enforce  prohibition 
that  it  does  to  fail  to  enforce  license  or  taxation.  The  reason  is  that 
taxation  gives  the  liquor  business  a  standing  in  society,  creates  property 
rights,  and  makes  a  majority  of  all  the  sales  legal.  Under  it,  violation 
becomes  the  exception,  and  the  legal  sale  the  rule.  In  this  way  the 
presumption  of  innocence  is  in  favor  of  the  liquor  business.  To  secure 
a  conviction  you  must  break  down  the  presumption  of  the  legal  sale  and 
establish  the  exception  of  the  illegal  or  unrighteous  sale.  Your  tax  law 
prohibits  the  sale  of  liquor  to  minors  and  licenses  the  sale  to  adults. 
In  this  State  you  prohibit  murder.  You  start  down  the  streets  of  Detroit 
in  the  morning  accompanied  by  your  boy,  who  is  seventeen  years  old. 
As  you  approach  a  saloon,  he  says,  '  Good-morning,  father, '  and  enters. 
You  wait.  Two  hours  after  he  comes  out  stupidly  drunk.  You  have 
watched  the  door  during  that  time  ;  you  know  he  has  not  left  the  place. 
He  went  in  sober  and  came  out  drunk.  Is  that  any  evidence  that  the 
man  in  the  place  sold  him  liquor  in  violation  of  law  ?  No.  I  go  into 
another  building  later  ;  you  see  me  come  out,  and  soon  after  you  dis- 
cover that  a  man  has  been  murdered  ;  he  has  been  killed  by  a  knife  in 
his  heart.  You  come  to  my  home,  you  find  blood  on  my  coat,  scratches 
on  my  hands.  Is  there  any  evidence  that  I  killed  the  man  ?  Unless  I 
can  show  how  the  blood  came  on  my  coat  and  the  scratches  on  my  hands, 
unless  I  can  show  what  I  was  doing  in  that  place,  how  the  man  was 
killed,  you  will  send  me  to  State's  prison  for  life  for  his  murder.  Yet 
the  evidence  that  would  send  me  to  State's  prison  for  murder  would 
not  touch  a  taxed  liquor-dealer  for  selling  liquor  to  your  boy  and  send- 
ing him  to  a  drunkard's  grave  and  a  drunkard's  hereafter.  The  law 
prohibits  the  sale  of  liquor  on  certain  days.  You  enter  a  saloon  on  one 
of  those  days,  see  a  man  step  to  the  bar,  hear  him  call  for  liquor,  see 
the  liquor  turned  out,  drank,  and  paid  for.  Can  yoii  swear  that  liquor 
was  bought  and  drunk  in  that  place  ?  If  you  think  so,  go  upon  the  wit- 
ness-stand and  swear  that  the  taxed  drunkard-maker  broke  the  law  and 
sold  liquor  in  violation  of  the  statute.  The  defendant's  attorney  asks 


282  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

you  where  you  stood  in  the  saloon.  You  answer,  '  Just  inside  the  door.' 
'How  far  from  the  bar?'  'Ten  feet.'  'Can  you  smell  whiskey  ten 
feet  ? '  '  No. '  '  Did  you  taste  that  stuff  that  man  drank  ? '  '  No. ' 
'Did  you  smell  it?"  'No.'  'How  do  you  know  it  was  whiskey?' 
'  Well,  it  looked  like  whiskey.'  '  Are  there  other  things  that  look  like 
whiskey?'  'Yes.'  'Will  you  swear  that  it  was  whiskey?'  'Well,  I 
think  it  was.'  '  You  are  not  swearing  to  what  you  think,  you  are  swear- 
ing to  what  you  know  ;  will  you  swear  it  was  whiskey  ?  '  And  the  an- 
swer must  be,  '  No.'  To  secure  a  conviction  under  the  tax  law  you  must 
enter  a  saloon,  induce  the  liquor-seller  to  sell  liquor  to  you  in  violation 
of  the  law,  thereby  becoming  particeps  criminis.  You  must  turn  the 
liquor  down  your  own  throat  so  as  to  be  able  to  swear  you  know  what 
it  was.  Then  enter  the  court-room  and  hear  the  judge  charge  the  jury 
that  a  man  who  deliberately  induces  another  man  to  commit  a  crime 
becomes  particeps  criminis  ;  that  his  evidence  should  be  thoroughly  cor- 
roborated before  it  should  have  weight  with  the  jury.  If  it  took  the 
same  evidence  to  convict  a  man  of  murder  that  it  does  of  illegal  liquor- 
selling  under  the  tax  law,  the  witness  would  have  to  swear  that  he  rode 
astride  the  bullet  and  saw  it  enter  the  murdered  man's  heart.  The  re- 
sult is  that  the  tax  law  of  this  State  is  openly  and  impudently,  defied. 
This  Mr.  Duffield  admits  when  he  says,  '  The  only  objection  urged 
against  it  is  that  it  is  not  carried  out.  That  may  be  true  to  some  extent, 
but  that  is  no  fault  of  the  law  ; '  and  again,  '  In  some  large  cities  there 
is  some  difficulty  in  enforcing  the  Sunday  and  night  law,  but  in  most  of 
the  smaller  cities  and  in  nearly  all  the  villages  it  is  fairly  well  enforced.' 
Now,  I  stand  here  to  assert,  and  I  challenge  denial,  that  the  tax  law  is 
violated  in  every  city,  every  town,  and  every  village  in  the  State  ;  that 
convictions  for  violation  are  the  exception  and  not  the  rule  ;  that  con- 
victions under  the  forms  of  evidence  required  under  the  tax  law  are 
practically  impossible  ;  and  what  is  true  in  Michigan  is  true  in  every 
State  where  a  tax  or  high  license  has  been  tried.  The  grand  jury  of 
Chicago,  in  a  recent  statement  to  the  court,  said  :  '  Having  discovered 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  283 

that  a  majority  of  the  cases  of  robbery  sent  to  the  grand  jury  by  the  dif- 
ferent police  justices  of  Chicago  originated  in  the  low  saloons  in  certain 
districts  of  the  city,  the  perpetrators  of  which  are  licensed  to  carry  on 
their  nefarious  business  and  enjoy  immunity  from  police  authorities  of 
the  city  of  Chicago,  a  committee  of  our  body  was  duly  appointed  to  as- 
certain if  such  charges  of  irregularities  and  flagrant  dereliction  of  duty 
on  the  part  of  the  police  officers  were  true  ;  the  committee  reported  that 
they  were,  and  that  furthermore  the  ordinance  requiring  the  closing  of 
saloons  by  midnight  has  by  long  custom  become  a  dead  letter  in  the 
community,  and  a  partiality  seemed  to  exist  in  favor  of  groggeries  of  the 
very  lowest  character,  and  they  have  been  described  on  the  sworn  testi- 
mony of  policemen  before  our  body,  as  robbers'  dens.'  Andrew  Pax- 
ton,  agent  of  the  Law  and  Order  League  of  Chicago,  speaking  of  the  con- 
dition of  things  under  high  license,  says  :  '  Some  of  the  low  dens  are  of 
the  most  infamous  character  and  are  a  menace  to  the  city.  They  are 
filled  with  thieves  and  debased  women.  The  chances  are  that  any  man 
who  enters  them  will  be  drugged  and  robbed.  One  of  these  places  was 
raided  one  night,  and  eighteen  women  of  the  basest  sort  were  found 
there.  Some  were  drunk  and  nearly  all  partially  so.  Two  weeks  later 
another  raid  was  made,  and  about  the  same  number  was  found.  Our 
own  agents  went  there,  and  were  solicited  by  the  women  to  go  with  them 
to  their  rooms.  One  night  a  young  man^came  with  a  considerable  sum 
of  money.  He  became  drunk  and  was  followed  out  by  the  bartender 
and  robbed.  In  our  protest  against  the  renewal  of  the  man's  license, 
we  set  forth  these  facts,  and  the  evidence  sustained  them,  yet  the 
license  was  renewed  in  this  infamous  place,  frequented  by  the  worst 
characters.  Young  girls  in  short  dresses  are  kept  to  lure  in  young  men. 
From  some  of  these  dens  women  are  sent  out  to  intercept  working  girls 
on  their  way  home,  and  try  to  induce  them  to  accompany  them.  Their 
purpose  and  the  deplorable  results  need  no  explanation.' 

"The  effect  of  high  license  is  to  fortify  the  immoral  features  of  the 
liquor  business,  to  destroy  the  semi-respectable  part  of  the  trade,  and  tq 


284  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

develop  its  worst  tendencies.  In  Nebraska,  \inder  low  license,  numbers 
of  Germans  kept  grocery  stores,  and  sold  lager-beer  in  connection  with 
that  business.  No  gamblers,  no  prostitutes  frequented  these  places. 
The  effect  of  high  license  was  to  close  these  places  because  they  did  not 
sell  enough  liquor  to  pay  the  tax  ;  but  not  so  with  the  place  where  bad 
women  were  kept  to  tempt  men,  or  the  place  where  gambling  was  carried 
on  ;  not  a  place  where  men  were  held  up  and  robbed  was  closed  by  in- 
creasing the  tax.  '  The  little  corner  grocery  stores  cannot  carry  these 
burdens,  and  therefore  they  disappear,'  urges  Mr.  Duffield  ;  but  I  say 
to  him,  the  dive,  the  concert  garden,  the  gambling  hell,  can  carry  these 
burdens,  and  therefore  they  remain.  Mr.  Duffield  prints,  speaking  of 
the  license  law  of  Illinois  :  '  There  the  tax  law  went  into  operation,' 
(notice  that  he  calls  a  high-license  law  a  tax  law)  '  in  1883  only,  and  what 
has  it  done  there  ?  It  closed,  in  one  year,  1000  saloons  in  Chicago  alone, 
and  blotted  out  4000  in  the  State."  I  must  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  he  dodges  the  whole  and  the  real  question — viz.  :  '  Does  tax 
decrease  the  evils  of  intemperance  ? '  What  does  it  matter  whether 
there  are  sixteen  or  fourteen  saloons  on  a  block  ?  Cannot  the  people  get 
as  drunk  in  fourteen  as  in  sixteen  ?  But,  as  he  sees  fit  to  avoid  the  real 
question,  we  must  follow  him  into  his  chosen  field  and  ask  what  are 
facts.  A  leading  lawyer  of  Illinois,  the  Hon.  George  C.  Christian,  sends 
me  the  following  statement :  '  My  grocer  told  me  that  he  had  just  quit 
selling  beer  to  families.  I  asked  him  when  ;  he  replied,  "  When  high 
license  went  into  effect."  "  Why  ?"  "  Because  I  didn't  sell$500  worth 
in  a  year,  and  therefore  I  couldn't  afford  to  pay  the  tax  and  make  money." 
I  asked,  "  Is  this  general  ?"  "Yes,"  said  he;  "there  are  3000  family 
groceries  in  Chicago.  One  half  or  more  sold  beer  to  families  before 
high  license.  Now  not  over  100  take  out  license."  The  number  of 
saloon  licenses  the  year  before  high  license  was  3820  ;  number  of 
saloons  licensed  now,  3760 — an  apparent  decrease  of  60  ;  total  old 
saloons  licensed,  3820  ;  less  family  groceries,  say  1000,  equal  2820.  Pres- 
ent number  of  saloon  licenses  and  only  100  family  groceries  selling, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  285 

3760.  Total  increase  in  saloons,  940. '  This  shows  the  suppression  of 
the  class  of  liquor-sellers  who  handle  liquor  with  other  commodities, 
and  an  increase  in  the  grog-shops  proper.  Mr.  Daffield  came  within  940 
of  getting  the  correct  figures,  which  is  wonderfully  accurate,  considering 
the  side  of  the  question  that  he  is  discussing.  In  regard  to  the  closing 
of  saloons  in  other  parts  of  Illinois,  the  State  is  working  under  local 
option,  and  the  decrease  in  the  saloons  is  owing  to  prohibition,  not  tax- 
ation. I  challenge  Mr.  Duffield  to  show  a  single  town  in  Illinois  where 
the  saloons  have  been  driven  out  by  tax,  while  it  is  easy  to  show  num- 
bers of  towns  where  the  high  tax  acted  as  a  bribe,  and  broke  down  local 
option.  Again  he  speaks  of  the  working  of  tax  in  Ohio.  Under  tax  in 
Ohio  the  Christian  Sunday  has  been  destroyed  in  all  large  cities,  and  it 
is  as  legal  to  sell  liquor  on  Sunday  as  on  Monday.  Concert  gardens  and 
saloon  dives  make  the  day  hideous,  and  interrupt  persons  on  their 
way  to  and  from  places  of  worship.  Desiring  to  get  at  the  facts,  I 
telegraphed  Dr.  Bayliss,  editor  of  the  Western  Christian  Advocate,  and 
asked  him  how  tax  was  working  in  Cincinnati.  I  received  the  follow- 
ing answer  : 

"  '  CINCINNATI,  March  23. 

"  '  Dr.  Bayliss  away.  I  have  seen  Methodist  preachers  in  the  city. 
Unanimously  for  constitutional  prohibition.  Tax  law  unworkable  and 
unsatisfactory. 

"  '  (Signed),  H.  W.  WILLIAM,  Asst.' 

"  How  does  this  agree  with  Mr.  Duffield's  statement  :  '  Everybody  in 
Ohio  is  satisfied  with  the  tax  law  '  ? 

"  You  will  notice  that  the  witnesses  cited  by  Mr.  Duffield  himself 
make  the  prohibitory  feature  of  the  law  the  only  one  which  can  be  de- 
fended. Judge  Foraker  says  :  '  Practical  prohibition  has  been  secured 
under  the  local-option  feature  of  the  Dow  law  in  at  least  one  hundred 
and  fifty  municipal  corporations  in  the  State. '  His  other  witnesses  say 
the  local-option  feature  pleases  the  Prohibitionists.  Nearly  every  day 


286  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

adds  to  the  municipalities  availing  themselves  of  the  local  prohibition 
feature  of  the  tax  law.  Notice  this  is  not  the  result  of  taxation,  but  the 
result  of  prohibition  by  people  who  utterly  repudiate  the  principle  of 
taxation. 

"  In  Nebraska  the  Hon.  H.  W.  Hardy,  ex-Mayor  of  Lincoln,  the  father 
of  the  high  license  law,  says  :  '  High  license  utterly  fails  to  abolish  the 
evil  effects  of  the  liquor  traffic.  As  a  temperance  measure,  it  is  an  entire 
and  complete  failure.' 

"  Eev.  J.  B.  Maxfield,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Methodist  Church,  says  : 
'  Men  who  pay  the  $1000  license  resort  to  every  possible  means  to  secure 
trade.  The  result  is  that  prostitution  and  gambling  have  largely  in- 
creased in  the  State. '  Mr.  Duffield,  in  his  defence  of  the  indefensible 
tax  system,  gives  special  prominence  to  the  prohibitory  features  of  the 
law,  and  admits  that  the  taxing  principle  is  an  impure  and  an  unsound 
position.  He  says  :  '  Take  a  township  or  a  village,  for  instance,  where 
there  is  a  pure  and  sound  sentiment  on  the  subject  of  temperance  and 
the  liquor  traffic,  and  the  trustees  meet,  or  the  board,  and  say,  '  We  do  not 
want  any  saloon  in  our  town  or  village.  Now  let  us  fix  the  amount  of 
the  bond  required  from  any  and  every  man  who  wishes  to  sell  at  $6000 
and  no  less.  This  can  be  done  under  the  law.'  Now,  if  a  pure  and  a 
sound  sentiment  will  lead  men  to  adopt  prohibition  by  the  roundabout 
way  of  refusing  the  bonds  offered  by  the  liquor-sellers,  then  the  senti- 
ment that  advocates  tax  and  opposes  prohibition  is  impure  and  unsound. 
'  Pure  and  sound  sentiment  on  the  subject  of  temperance  ;  I  thank  thee, 
Duffield,  for  the  word.  In  speaking  of  the  tax  law,  he  says  '  that  it  is 
illegal  to  sell  liquor  where  billiards  and  other  games  are  played  ;  it  is 
illegal  to  sell  in  any  hall  adjacent  to  a  variety  show  or  theatre  ;  it  is  illegal 
to  keep  open  bars  or  places  for  the  sale  of  liquor  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
election  days,  regular  holidays,  and  all  such  places  must  be  closed  after 
10  or  11  o'clock  at  night  until  7  A.M.  ;  that  no  child  under  sixteen  years 
of  age  shall  be  permitted  to  remain  in  any  bar-room,  nor  shall  any 
saloon-keeper  give  an  entertainment  on  Sunday  in  his  place.'  All  these 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  287 

features  are  prohibitory  features,  and  not  taxation  features.  If  it  were 
not  for  the  prohibitory  salt  distributed  through  the  tax  law  of  Michigan, 
it  would  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  decent  people.  To  defend  the  prin- 
ciple of  taxation,  he  cited  the  opinions  of  eminent  men  in  the  East. 
When  I  read  his  speech,  I  regretted  that  a  bad  cause  compelled  him  to 
adopt  questionable  methods  to  uphold  it.  To  place  leading  men  in  false 
positions  is  neither  fair  nor  honorable.  To  cite  Dr.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler 
as  opposed  to  constitutional  prohibition  after  Dr.  Cuyler  had  written 
him  a  letter  urging  him  not  to  make  the  speech,  deserves  a  more  severe 
reprimand  than  I  care  to  give  on  this  platform.  As  he  had  called  these 
witnesses,  and  unfairly  used  the  influence  of  their  great  names,  I,  know- 
ing he  had  done  so,  telgeraphed  them  the  facts,  and  now  want  to  read 
Duffield's  witnesses  against  Daffield,  and  want  you  to  bear  in  mind  they 
are  his  witnesses,  and  he  must  accept  what  they  say  ;  that  he  cannot 
impeach  them 

"  '  NEW  YOKE,  March  21 

"  '  I  am  not  opposed  to  constitutional  prohibition,  but  sincerely  hope 
the  people  of  Michigan  will  adopt  it. 

"  '  (Signed),  NOAH  DAVIS, 

"  '  Ex-Judge  of  Supreme  Court.' 

"  '  NEW  TOBK,  March  23. 

"  '  No  man  has  a  right  to  quote  me  on  the  question.  I  simply  stood 
for  high  license  in  the  State  of  New  York  as  the  most  prohibitory  meas- 
ure that  could  be  passed  at  the  present  time. 

"  '  WTT.T.TAM  LLOYD, 
"  '  Of  the  Central  Congregational  Church.' 

"  '  NEW  OBLEANS,  LA.,  March  23. 

"  '  I  am  now,  and  have  been  since  the  movement  started,  in  favor  of 
constitutional  prohibition. 

"  '  THEODOBE  L.  CUYLEB.' 


288  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  Under  the  present  law  of  Michigan  there  were,  in  1885,  4180  liquor 
manufacturers  and  dealers.  Will  any  man  claim  that  there  is  any  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  liquor,  or  that  drunkenness  and  crime  and  vice  are 
not  the  result  of  these  taxed  saloons  ?  The  case  summed  up  against  tax- 
ation is  this  : 

"1.  Taxation  creates  property  rights  in  liquor,  gives  a  liquor-dealer 
a  legal  standing  in  the  community,  and  renders  the  enforcement 
of  the  law  practically  impossible.  If  Mr.  Duffield  doubts  this,  let 
me  suggest  that  he  commence  to-morrow  to  try  and  enforce  the  tax 
law  in  this  city.  When  the  liquor-dealers  sell  liquor  to  minors,  let 
him  enter  a  complaint.  When  they  sell  liquor  on  Sunday,  enter  a  com- 
plaint. When  they  sell  liquor  on  holidays,  enter  a  complaint.  If,  at 
the  end  of  six  months,  he  is  not  a  Prohibitionist,  I  will  buy  him  the  best 
suit  of  clothes  he  ever  wore  in  his  life.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  under  the 
tax  system  of  this  State  the  business  men  are  terrorized  and  intimidated 
so  that  they  do  not  dare  to  make  complaints,  but  ask  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  the  temperance  organizations,  or  some 
irresponsible  parties  who  have  no  property  to  be  injured  by  the  liquor- 
sellers,  to  undertake  the  enforcement  of  this  law  ? 

"  2.  It  reduces  the  number  of  groceries  that  sell  liquor  incidentally  ;  it 
increases  saloons  that  sell  nothing  else. 

"3.  It  permits  a  business  in  cities  and  towns  that  makes  drunkards, 
paupers,  and  criminals. 

"  4.  The  tax  paid  by  the  business  goes  into  the  city  and  town  treasuries. 
The  taxes  to  support  the  criminals  and  the  paupers  made  by  the  busi- 
ness comes  from  the  entire  State,  thereby  laying  on  the  shoulders  of 
those  who  receive  no  part  of  the  revenue  of  the  liquor  traffic,  the  burdens 
of  the  liquor  traffic  itself. 

"5.  It  leads  to  the  desecration  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  to  the  debauch- 
ery of  workingmen,  and  the  degradation  of  workingmen's  homes. 

"6.  It  is  everywhere  violated,  and  little  or  no  attempt  is  made  to  en- 
force it. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  289 

"  7.  The  prohibition  obtained  under  it  can  only  be  procured  by  false 
methods  and  in  circuitous  ways,  which  makes  it  valueless  when  obtained. 

"8.  It  creates  a  class  of  drunkard-makers  who  live  by  working  to  in- 
crease the  sale,  and  consequently  the  consumption  of  liquor. 

"  9,  It  is  a  failure  as  a  temperance  measure. 

"  Mr.  Duffield  is  the  father  of  the  tax  law.  The  tax  law  is  openly  and 
impudently  violated  in  Detroit.  Mr.  Duffield  is  a  lawyer  and  a  man  of 
wealth  and  standing  in  the  community.  Why  does  he  not  make  his  law 
work  ?  It  will  not  do  for  him  to  ask  Prohibitionists  to  enforce  a  law  in 
which  they  do  not  believe,  and  yet  his  sneer  that  '  no  Prohibitionist 
ever  attempted  to  enforce  the  law, '  is  utterly  unfounded.  In  fact,  it 
seems  to  me  that  a  man  of  his  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  affairs 
of  this  State  must  have  known  it  to  be  untrue.  It  is  the  Prohibitionists 
who  have  tried  to  enforce  the  tax  law,  and  thereby  demonstrated  its  utter 
worthlessness  as  a  regulative  measure.  The  members  of  the  law  and 
order  leagues  of  this  State  are  largely  Prohibitionists.  Prohibitionists 
have  furnished  the  money  and  done  the  work  to  attempt  the  enforce- 
ment of  this  law,  while  Mr.  Duffield  and  men  who,  like  him,  advocate 
the  tax  law  everywhere,  do  nothing  to  make  the  law  operative,  and  justify 
their  indifference  and  idleness  by  sneering  at  Prohibitionists,  and  insist- 
ing that  they  shall  enforce  the  tax  law.  I  challenge  Mr.  Duffield  to  show 
that  the  tax  law  of  Michigan  has  decreased  the  crime,  pauperism,  and 
vice  resulting  from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  or  made  it  more  diffi- 
cult for  the  drunkard  to  obtain  liquor.  I  challenge  Mr.  Duffield  to 
prove  the  tax  system  is  workable  by  trying  to  enforce  it.  I  say  the  law 
is  so  bad  that  it  cannot  be  worked  by  the  constitutional  machinery  of 
Government,  and  challenge  Mr.  Duffield  to  prove  my  statement  false  by 
enforcement  in  Detroit. 

"  The  question  is  now,  Will  the  prohibitory  law  work  better?  I  repeat 
my  statement  that  it  will  not  take  one  half  the  force  to  enforce  prohibi- 
tion that  it  does  to  fail  to  enforce  license. 

"  The  trial  of  prohibition  in  this  State  was  made  during  the  terrible 


290  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

period  of  our  civil  war.  The  whole  attention  of  the  nation  was  absorbed 
in  the  issues  of  that  great  struggle.  Churches  languished,  schools  grew 
weak,  but  the  liquor  business  nourished.  With  the  close  of  the  war 
there  came  a  reaction,  and  with  the  reaction  an  attempt  to  enforce  the 
law.  The  last  year  that  the  law  was  on  the  statute-book  of  this  State, 
the  grog-shops  decreased  2862.  Yet  Mr.  Duffield  presumed  upon  the 
ignorance  of  his  audience,  and  asked  :  '  Did  you  ever  hear,  Mr.  Sheley, 
of  a  prohibition  law  that  wiped  out  ten  saloons  ? ' 

"  Mr.  Sheley — '  No,  never.' 

' '  And  then  in  the  next  breath  he  claims  that  the  tax  law  has  largely 
reduced  the  number  of  saloons,  quoting  figures  one  year  from  the  United 
States  internal  revenue  reports  and  the  next  year  from  the  State  reports, 
but  neglecting  to  state  whether  there  were  any  saloons  in  that  year  that 
continued  selling  without  paying  the  tax,  and  also  neglecting  to  explain 
that  a  Red  Ribbon  movement  which  swept  through  the  country,  and  the 
consequent  temperance  sentiment  created  by  that  movement,  was  the 
real  cause  of  the  reduction,  or  the  seeming  reduction,  of  the  saloons  in 
Michigan,  instead  of  the  tax  law.  When  this  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  liquor-dealers,  a  brewers'  congress,  held  in  Detroit 
August  12th,  1874,  demanded  the  repeal  of  the  law.  If  the  law  had  in- 
jured them  sooner,  a  demand  would  have  sooner  been  made  for  its 
repeal.  It  was  not  until  the  law  was  becoming  effective  that  the  liquor- 
sellers  demanded  at  the  hands  of  the  politicians  of  this  State  that  the 
law  be  strangled.  The  conditions  to-day  are  entirely  different.  The 
temperance  forces  are  thoroughly  organized.  Total  abstinence  is  taught 
in  the  schools.  The  churches  are  thoroughly  awake  on  the  question. 
The  politicians  are  aware  that  they  can  no  longer  slight  it,  and  prohibi- 
tion, if  adopted  in  this  State,  will  be  enforced.  I  am  surprised  and 
astonished  to  see  the  statements  made  by  Mr.  Duffield  against  prohibi- 
tion in  other  States.  When  I  read  the  speech  I  knew  that  the  state- 
ments, or  rather  the  inferences  from  the  statements,  were  not  true.  So 
I  telegraphed  gentlemen  of  undoubted  integrity  that  he  had  seen  fit  to 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  291 

drag  into  the  controversy  in  the  States  referred  to,  and  asked  for  the 
facts  in  the  case.  The  witnesses  I  shall  call  are  honored  in  the  States 
•where  they  live.  I  regret  that  in  discussing  this  question  I  am  com- 
pelled to  meet  Mr.  Duffield  in  two  ways — first,  Mr.  Duffield  as  printed  ; 
second,  Mr.  Duffield  as  spoken — and  that  he  deemed  it  necessary  to 
make  one  speech  for  the  people  of  Detroit,  and  one  for  the  farmers  of 
the  country.  In  his  attack  upon  prohibition  he  bases  his  whole  charge 
upon  the  statement  of  the  Internal  Kevenue  Commissioner  of  the  United 
States.  Mr.  Duffield  is  a  lawyer,  and  knows  that  the  tax  permit  issued 
by  the  general  Government  to  the  saloon  is  identical  with  the  tax  permit 
issued  to  the  drug-store,  or  any  place  that  retails  alcoholic  spirits.  He 
also  knows  that  in  a  State  under  tax  the  man  who  obtains  the  permit 
holds  the  permit  for  an  entire  year — that  is,  a  man  under  prohibition 
who  wants  to  violate  the  State  law  pays  the  United  States  tax  to  prevent 
an  interference  of  that  Government,  so  that  he  shall  only  have  one 
power  to  fight.  That  if  a  man  is  arrested  and  imprisoned,  the  permit 
appears  in  the  records  of  the  United  States  ;  so  that  in  one  town  in 
Kansas  where  twenty -one  permits  were  granted,  nineteen  of  the  liquor- 
sellers  were  in  the  jail,  and  the  other  two  skipped  the  country,  and  the  town 
did  not  have  an  open  grog-shop  during  the  year.  Mr.  Duffield  is  either 
very  ignorant  or  else  he  knows  that  the  tax  permit  of  the  United  States 
is  absolutely  no  evidence,  that  it  does  not  show  that  a  single  liquor-shop 
is  open,  or  that  the  State  law  is  violated  ;  that  it  simply  shows  the  in- 
tent of  the  party  in  paying  twenty-five  dollars  to  violate  the  State  law  if 
he  can.  In  exposing  the  fallacy  of  his  position,  I  desire,  in  all  cases 
where  possible,  to  criticise  the  printed  speech,  and  only  refer  to  the 
speech  that  he  really  made  in  order  to  get  an  explanation  of  his  views. 

"  Mr.  Duffield  printed  :  '  Let  us,  for  instance,  take  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island.  There  the  prohibition  law  has  been  in  operation  now  for  six 
months,  and  carries  with  it  very  stringent  provisions  for  its  enforce- 
ment. What  record  has  it  already  made  for  itself?  The  records  in 
Providence  County  show  that  of  the  whole  number  of  cases  tried  for  the 


292  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

last  six  months  there  werejbut  three  convictions.  In  the  September  term 
there  were  106  liquor  cases  on  the  appeal  docket,  and  in  the  December 
docket  116,  and  of  the  whole  number  there  were  but  four  verdicts  of 
"guilty"  rendered  ;  the  rest  of  the  cases  were  variously  disposed  of  by 
discontinuances  on  payment  of  cost,  discontinuances  on  conditions  and 
disagreements  of  juries.  The  same  state  of  things  is  being  enacted  there 
that  prevailed  under  our  prohibition  laws  of  twenty  years  ago.  The 
result  is  that  already  the  best  men  in  the  State  are  deluging  the  General 
Assembly  with  petitions  for  the  law's  repeal,  many  signers  being  those 
who  voted  for  the  prohibition  law.  One  petition  represented  men  of 
property  to  the  amount  of  $3,000,000  ;  another,  of  $12,000,000,  and  the 
Legislature  is  now  pondering  on  what  is  its  duty  in  the  premises.  At  a 
recent  meeting  of  the  Law  and  Order  Society  in  Providence,  President 
Kobinson,  of  Brown  University,  admitted  that  "  the  frequency  of  intoxi- 
cation upon  the  streets,  notwithstanding  the  prohibition  law,  was  a  scan- 
dal and  outrage  upon  decency."  '  Mr.  Duffield  gives  no  authority  for 
his  statements,  nor  does  he  tell  where  he  got  his  figures. 

"  To  find  out  whether  this  statement  in  regard  to  a  resubmission  of 
the  question  was  true  or  false,  I  telegraphed  Hon.  E.  A.  "Wilson,  Speaker 
of  the  House,  and  received  this  answer  : 

"  '  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I.,  March  23. 

"  '  Proposition  to  submit  repeal  of  prohibitory  amendment  indefinitely 
postponed  without  debate,  unanimously.  The  liquor  nuisance  will  be 
served  with  equal  unanimity.  Prohibition  will  prohibit  in  this  State. 

"  'E.  A.  WILSON.' 

"  To  meet  another  statement,  I  telegraphed  Professor  Robinson,  who 
answered  : 

"  '  PBOVTDENCE,  R.  I.,  March  23,  1887. 
"  '  Constitutional  prohibition  is  good.     Political  intrigue  attempts  to 

thwart  reform  in  Providence. 

"  '  W.  H.  ROBINSON.' 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  293 

"  Desiring  to  give  the  people  of  Michigan  the  real  facts  in  the  case,  I 
telegraphed  the  Eev.  H.  W.  Conant  and  to  0.  E.  Brayton,  Chief  of  State 

Police.     They  replied  as  follows  : 

"  '  PROVIDENCE,  E.  L,  March  23. 

"  '  Increase  of  arrests  for  drunkenness  and  revelry  in  Providence  last 
six  months'  license,  over  18  per  cent.  Decrease  in  first  six  months'  pro- 
hibition, over  42  per  cent.  Common  drunkenness  in  same  time  de- 
creased in  Newport  100  per  cent  ;  Pawtucket,  50  per  cent ;  last-  two 

months,  75  per  cent.     Official  figures. 

"  'H.  W.  CONANT.' 

"  '  PROVIDENCE,  E.  I.,  March  24. 

'"  The  statistics  from  the  city  of  Providence,  the  largest  city  in  the 
State,  show  an  increase  of  drunkenness  during  the  last  six  months  of  the 
license  law  of  18.3  per  cent,  while  during  the  first  six  months  of  pro- 
hibition, as  compared  with  the  corresponding  period  under  license, 
drunkenness  decreased  more  than  42  per  cent.  The  commitments  to 
the  State  Workhouse,  whose  inmates  are  largely  victims  of  the  intemper- 
ate use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  for  the  first  six  months  under  prohibition, 
as  compared  with  the  corresponding  period  under  license,  show  a  falling 
off  of  more  than  one  half,  resulting  in  the  large  saving  to  the  State 
of  more  than  $18,000  per  annum  in  the  item  of  board  alone.  The 
"  growler,"  or  tin-kettle  trade,  has  almost  entirely  disappeared  from  the 
streets,  and  children  are  not  now  seen  frequenting  liquor-saloons  for 
supplies  of  liquor,  as  before  prohibition  went  into  effect.  Many  a  family 
that  never  saw  a  penny  of  the  weekly  earnings  of  its  head,  now  receives 
the  full  benefit  of  his  labor.  The  Legislature,  now  in  session,  has  just 
indefinitely  postponed,  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  a  proposition  to 
submit  the  repeal  of  the  prohibition  amendment  to  the  people,  and  will 
at  this  session  make  the  prohibition  law  more  effective. 

"  '  C.    E.  'BRAY-TON.' 

"  Mr.  Duffield  says  in  regard  to  Kansas  :  '  Take  the  State  of  Kansas. 
Under  free  traffic  '  (you  see  that  he  admits  that  traffic  under  license  or 


294  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

tax,  is  free  traffic),  '  before  the  prohibition  law  of  last  year  was  enacted, 
there  were  2339  liquor-dealers.  In  1886  under  prohibition  there  were 
1850.'  You  will  notice  he  fails  to  say  how  he  knows  there  are  any  liquor- 
dealers  in  Kansas.  Against  his  empty  assertion  I  want  to  put  Governor 
John  A.  Martin,  who  recently  said  :  '  The  liquor  sold  in  the  city  of 
Topeka  amounted  under  license  to  two  thirds  as  much  as  is  sold  for  all 
purposes  in  the  whole  State  under  prohibition. '  He  estimates  that  under 
license  the  State  sold  $60,000,000  per  year,  and  under  prohibition  less 
than  $5,000,000. 

"  Mr.  Duffield  prints  :  '  In  Vermont,  with  thirty  years  of  prohibition, 
the  United  States  revenue  shows  446  open  saloons.'  I  know  it  shows  no 
such  thing.  Mr.  Duffield  presumed  upon  the  ignorance  of  his  audience 
when  he  insinuated  that  any  men  could  determine  from  the  United 
States  revenue  whether  the  tax  permit  was  issued  to  an  open  saloon,  '  a 
hole  in  the  wall,  or  a  drug-store.'  Yet  Mr.  Duffield  said,  but  did  not 
print,  '  while  this  is  the  number  of  saloons,  it  does  not  reckon  in  hotels, 
club-houses,  or  private  drinking-places.'  I  submit  this  is  either  reckless 
assertion  or  impudent  pettifoggery.  Dare  Mr.  Duffield  claim  that  the 
United  States  Government  allows  hotels  and  club-houses  and  private 
drinking-places  to  be  carried  on  in  Vermont,  without  the  necessary 
permit  ? 

' '  To  prove  the  falsity  of  his  statement,  I  telegraphed  the  Hon.  Frank 
Plumley,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  Republican  leaders  of  the  State  of 
Vermont.  He  was  chairman  of  the  last  Republican  State  convention, 
and  has  been  in  the  Republican  campaigns  of  this  State  several  times. 

He  answered  : 

"  '  NOETHFIELD,  Vx.,  March  23. 

"  '  Your  denial  of  open  saloons  in  Vermont,  to  my  knowledge  is  abso- 
lutely correct. 

"  '  FEANK  PLUMLEY.' 

Mr.  Dnffield  prints :   '  In  the  State  of  Iowa,  before  the  prohibition 
law,  there  were  3834  dealers  ;  under  prohibition  in  1886  there  were  4033, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  295 

and  the  manufacture  of  5,894,544  gallons.'  Mr.  Duffield  seems  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  fact  that  in  the  State  of  Iowa  they  have  had  prohibition 
of  the  sale  of  distilled  liquors  since  1853  ;  that  a  recent  prohibitory  stat- 
ute simply  added  to  the  prohibitory  law  the  prohibition  of  vinous  and 
fermented  liquors. 

"  To  show  the  absolute  working  of  prohibition  in  Iowa  I  telegraphed 
Hon.  E.  K.  Hutchins,  Commissioner  of  Labor  Statistics.  Mr.  Hutchins 
answered : 

"  '  DES  MOINBS,  IA.,  March  23. 

"  '  Governor  and  Attorney-General  both  say  prohibition  has  constantly 
improved  the  moral,  financial,  and  social  condition  of  Iowa,  and  is  suc- 
cessfully enforced  in  eighty-five  of  the  ninety-nine  counties  ;  also  grow- 
ing rapidly  in  favor  in  the  remainder. 

"  '  E.  R.  HUTCHINS.' 

"  I  will  not  quote  his  statement  in  regard  to  Maine.  It  is  the  old  one, 
and  has  been  so  often  answered  that  there  is  no  need  of  replying  to  it 
in  detail.  But  I  would  call  the  attention  of  the  audience  to  the  fact  that 
in  quoting  the  Maine  Farmer  Mr.  Duffield  fails  to  tell  where  the  paper  is 
printed  or  to  give  the  date  or  number  of  the  issue  containing  the  state- 
ment. But  if  he  makes  another  speech  he  should  be  honest  enough  to 
say  that  the  Maine  Farmer  is  and  always  has  been  a  consistent  advocate 
of  prohibition.  His  own  showing  of  figures  in  regard  to  Maine  proves 
that  the  prohibitory  law  more  nearly  suppresses  liquor-selling  and 
drunkenness  in  that  State  than  does  the  tax  law  in  Michigan.  However, 
to  corroborate  the  statement  of  James  G.  Blaine,  William  P.  Frye,  Eugene 
Hale,  and  all  other  public  men  of  Maine,  I  telegraphed  Joseph  R.  Bid- 
well,  the  Governor.  He  answered  : 

"  '  AUGUSTA,  ME.,  March  23. 

"  '  The  finances  of  the  State  never  more  prosperous.  Drink  habit  is 
fatal  to  prosperity  in  any  community.  Prohibition  promotes  morality 
everywhere.  Nearly  all  crimes  can  be  traced  to  rum  either  directly  or 
indirectly.  <The  law  is  well  enforced  in  the  country  towns.  In  some  of 


296  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  cities  it  is  not  quite  so  effective.     The  new  law  will  aid  the  enforce- 
ment there. 

"  '  JOSEPH  R.  BID  WELL.' 

"  Hon.  Nelson  Dingley,  Congressman,  and  editor  of  the  Lewiston 
Daily  Journal,  writes  me  : 

''  '  LEWISTON,  ME.,  March  23,  1887. 

"  '  The  prohibitory  law  is  well  enforced,  and  is  a  blessing  to  the  State. 

"  'NELSON  DINGLEY. ' 

"  Mr.  Duffield  makes  a  great  point  by  citing  Rev.  A.  L.  Ladd,  of 
Bangor,  Me.,  as  opposed  to  prohibition.  Mr.  Ladd  telegraphs  me  : 

"  '  BANGOK,  ME.,  March  24,  1887. 

"  '  Prohibition  is  a  success  throughout  the  State.  The  amendments 
to  the  law,  recently  passed,  will  make  it  still  more  effective  in  cities. 

«'  '  A.  L.  LADD.' 

"  In  1884,  after  the  prohibition  law  of  Maine  had  been  on  trial  for 
thirty  years,  the  people,  by  a  majority  of  47,000,  placed  it  in  the  State 
Constitution.  Few  men  in  this  country  will  presume  to  claim  that  the 
people  of  Maine  are  either  fools  or  idiots,  and  yet  to  charge  that  they 
made  prohibition  a  part  of  their  organic  law  when  it  increased  pauperism 
and  crime  and  vice,  is  to  challenge  their  judgment  and  intelligence,  be- 
cause prohibition  with  them  was  not  an  experiment.  They  had  lived 
under  it  and  seen  its  workings  for  thirty  years. 

"  Mr.  Duffield  prints,  in  speaking  of  the  State  of  Georgia  :  '  Take  the 
State  of  Georgia,  where  it  is  claimed  that  prohibition  and  local  option 
have  been  at  work,  and  we  find  that,  according  to  the  Internal  Revenue 
Office  of  the  United  States,  there  are  to-day  more  distilleries  in  the  State 
than  ever  before,  and  they  are  rapidly  increasing.  The  increase  is  not 
alone  in  the  number  of  stills,  but  in  their  capacity — old  ones  having  in- 
creased from  five  bushels  to  fifty.'  As  a  public  man  Mr.  Duffield  must 
know  that  immediately  following  the  war  Northern  Georgia,  Eastern 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  297 

Tennessee,  Western  North  Carolina,  and  South  Carolina  were  filled 
with  moonshine  distilleries.  All  attempts  to  enforce  the  internal 
revenue  laws  resulted  in  unblushing  crime.  But  as  time  has  passed  on, 
the  enforcement  of  the  law  has  become  more  uniform,  and  the  so-called 
report  of  increase  in  distilleries  is  simply  a  statement  that  the  law  is 
better  enforced,  and  that  the  distilleries  of  the  South  are  becoming  more 
law-abiding.  Desiring  to  call  reliable  witnesses,  I  telegraphed  the  busi- 
ness men  of  Atlanta.  The  answers  were  as  follows  : 

"  '  ATLANTA,  GA.,  March  23. 

"  '  Georgia,  115  of  137  counties  absolute  prohibition.  With  imperfect 
system  of  assessment,  taxable  valuation  constantly  increasing.  State  in 
a  very  prosperous  condition. 

"  '  W.  E.  WEIGHT, 

"  '  Comptroller  of  Slate.' 

" '  General  merchants  from  all  parts  of  the  State  report  business 
good.' — J.  T.  Henderson,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture. 

"  '  Atlanta,  compared  with  same  dates  last  year,  increased  population, 
5000  ;  most  moral  city  in  the  world.  Prohibition  does  prohibit.' — 
Howard  Van  Epps,  Judge  City  Court. 

"  '  Business  increased  $50,000  last  two  months.' — Eizer &  Co.,  wholesale 
dry-goods. 

"  '  Business  never  so  good.' — E.  P.  Chamberlain,  dry-goods. 

"  '  Never  saw  anything  like  it.' — G.  T.  Dood  &  Co.,  wholesale  grocers. 

"  '  Will  transfer  $200,000  of  real  estate  this  week  ;  on  eve  of  biggest 
kind  of  boom  ;  workingmen  buying  homes.' — 8.  W.  Goode,  real  estate. 

"  '  Sales  of  school-books  increased  100  per  cent.' — J.  M.  Miller,  book- 
store. 

"  '  It  is  doubtful  if  Atlanta  has  ever  been  the  scene  of  such  a  religious 
movement  as  at  present.' — Daily  Constitution,  March  23,  1887. 

"  Indorsed  by  Kev.  J.  B.  Hawthorne  and  every  minister  of  the  city. 

"  '  Every  business  but  undertakers'  doing  well.' — J.  B.  Thromer,  con- 
tractor. 


298  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  I  might  close  my  case  in  favor  of  prohibition  by  this  statement ; 
Under  prohibition  in  1882,  Maine  paid  taxes  upon  spirituous  liquors 
amounting  to  $25,247.05.  On  fermented  liquors,  $2,993.34.  Michigan, 
under  tax,  the  same  year,  paid  on  spirituous  liquors,  $129,405.02.  On 
fermented  liquors,  $323,137.02  ;  total,  $452,542.04.  The  effects  of  pro- 
hibition in  restraining  immorality,  vice,  and  crime,  are  such  that  the1 
prohibitory  law  of  Maine  is  indorsed  by  every  public  man,  by  every 
teacher  in  their  colleges,  by  every  minister  in  their  pulpits,  while  the 
effect  of  the  tax  law  in  Michigan  is  such  that  it  is  antagonized  by  the 
churches,  the  ministers,  the  teachers,  the  women,  and  most  of  the  farm- 
ers of  this  State.  The  contrast  between  prohibition  and  license  is  ably 
drawn  by  Dr.  C.  L.  Randall,  of  your  own  State,  whose  statements  I  have 
not  seen  contradicted  :  '  That  during  the  last  two  years  the  prohibitory 
law  was  on  our  statute-books  there  was  a  reduction  of  2862  places  where 
liquor  was  sold,  and  $39,142.25  in  United  States  revenue  and  11,393 
barrels  of  beer,  and  we  had  but  one  State  prison  at  Jackson  with  703 
inmates.  How  was  it  ten  years  from  that  day  ?  After  ten  years  of  tax- 
ation, or  legalized  rum,  we  find  more  than  one  prison,  as  follows  :  State 
prison  at  Jackson  with  670  inmates  ;  State  Eeformatory,  lona,  611  in- 
mates ;  Detroit  House  of  Correction,  314  inmates  ;  total,  1595.  Draw 
the  contrast.  Prohibition  twenty  years,  with  a  terrible  war,  703  crimi- 
nals. Taxation  one  year,  with  peace  and  plenty,  1595  ;  although  our  pop- 
ulation has  increased  but  22  per  cent,  our  criminal  population  increased 
about  120  per  cent.' 

"  Then  I  urge  in  favor  of  prohibition  : 

"  1.  That  it  destroys  property  rights  in  liquor  obtained  after  the  law 
is  passed,  and  makes  possession  prima  facie  evidence.  It  destroys  all 
legal  sales  for  beverage  purposes,  and  so  removes  all  legal  protection 
from  the  drunkard-maker.  Proof  is  simplified  and  prosecution  aided. 

"  2.  That  it  makes  liquor-selling  a  crime. 

"3.  That  it  forces  the  liquor- dealer  into  business  and  trades  which 
develop  the  prosperity  and  general  morality  of  the  public. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  299 

"  4.  That  it  turns  the  earnings  of  the  laboring  man  from  the  grog-shop 
to  the  store,  and  from  the  bar-room  to  the  school. 

"  5.  That  wherever  tried  it  has  reduced  liquor-selling,  and  the  effects 
resulting  from  liquor-selling. 

"  6.  It  destroys  the  open,  popular  saloon  and  the  social  habits  of 
treating  which  drag  young  men  to  lives  of  debauchery  and  crime. 

"  If  prohibition  be  adopted  on  the  4th  of  April,  and  it  will  be  if  an 
honest  ballot  and  fair  count  is  guaranteed,  the  question  raised  by  Pro- 
fessor Kent  when  he  stated,  '  In  my  judgment,  this  amendment,  if  passed 
by  a  majority,  will  be  utterly  ineffectual,'  and  gave  as  a  reason  that  it 
interfered  with  the  property  rights  of  the  liquor- dealers,  is  entitled  to 
consideration.  The  question  is  simply,  Will  the  State  be  compelled  to 
compensate  the  manufacturers  and  dealers  in  liquor  for  the  injury  which 
may  result  to  breweries,  distilleries,  saloons,  and  stock  on  hand,  from 
the  prohibition  of  the  beverage  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors  ?  Professor 
Kent,  with  the  greatest  solemnity  and  with  due  judicial  deliberation, 
says  :  '  In  my  judgment,  if  the  amendment  is  adopted,  it  will  be  held 
void  so  far  as  it  undertakes  to  forfeit  the  rights  of  individuals  in  the 
liquor  which  they  now  have.'  Professor  Kent  should  know  that  the 
prohibitory  law  does  not  contemplate  the  forfeiture  of  the  rights  of  indi- 
viduals in  the  liquor  which  they  now  have.  It  simply  says  to  those  in- 
dividuals, '  You  shall  not  sell  those  liquors  to  injure  public  morals, 
public  intelligence,  and  public  prosperity.'  The  attack  upon  the  liquor 
business  is  the  result  of  the  wrongs  of  that  business.  But  for  its  own 
wrongs  there  would  never  have  been  a  prohibitory  amendment.  The 
prohibitory  law  is  a  police  regulation  made  necessary  by  the  wrongs  of 
the  liquor  business  itself.  The  law  on  this  question  simply  is  :  '  The 
trade  in  alcoholic  drinks  being  lawful,  capital  employed  being  duly  pro- 
tected by  law,  the  Legislature  then  steps  in,  and  by  an  enactment  based  on  gen- 
eral reasons  of  public  utility  annihilates  the  traffic,  destroys  altogether  the  em- 
ployment, and  reduces  to  a  nominal  value  the  property  on  hand.  Even  the 
keeping  of  it  for  the  purpose  of  sale  becomes  a  criminal  offence,  and  without 


300  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

any  change  whatever  in  his  own  conduct  and  employment,  the  merchant  of  yes. 
terday  becomes  the  criminal  of  to-day,  and  the  very  building  in  which  he  lives 
and  conducts  the  business,  which  before  the  amendment  was  lawful,  becomes  a 
subject  of  legal  proceedings  and  liable  to  be  proceeded  against  for  forfeiture.  A 
statute  which  can  do  this  must  be  justified  upon  the  highest  reasons  of  public 
benefit ;  but  whether  satisfactory  or  not,  the  reasons  address  themselves  exclu- 
sively to  legislative  wisdom. ' 

"  Government  compensates  for  private  property  taken  for  public  use. 
Government  never  compensates  for  prohibiting  the  wrongful  or  injuri- 
ous use  of  private  property.  If  the  liquor  business  had  produced  the 
same  results  as  the  dry-goods  business,  there  would  have  been  no  at- 
tempt to  prohibit  it.  The  prohibition  is  the  result  of  the  effects  of  the 
business.  It  has  made  its  own  suppression  necessary,  and  cannot  plead 
its  own  wrongs  in  any  court  of  equity.  The  professor  concedes  the 
weakness  of  his  position  when  he  says  in  the  first  part  of  his  speech  : 
'  I  do  not  advocate  the  right  of  any  man  to  keep  a  saloon. '  The  tax 
assessed  against  a  saloon-keeper  is  for  one  year,  the  bond  is  for  one 
year,  and  when  the  saloon-keeper  enters  a  business,  pays  his  tax,  and 
gives  his  bond,  he  knows  that  at  the  expiration  of  the  year  all  privileges 
and  all  rights  under  that  tax  and  that  bond  expire,  and  no  mandamus 
will  lie  to  compel  the  officers  of  the  village  or  city  to  renew  the  priv- 
ilege. I  rent  a  farm  for  a  year  ;  the  man  who  rents  stocks  the  farm. 
At  the  end  of  a  year  I  refuse  to  renew  the  lease.  It  would  be  a  very 
poor  lawyer  who  would  claim  that  the  man  could  recover  from  me  the 
value  of  the  stock  upon  the  farm,  because  I  had  refused  to  renew  the 
lease.  The  liquor-seller  knows  that  his  privilege  is  annual ;  with  the 
expiration  of  the  privilege  he  takes  the  risk  of  renewal.  Professor  Kent 
would  certainly  not  claim  that  if  the  tax  law  drove  out  of  the  business 
in  a  certain  town  twenty  saloon-keepers  and  left  ten  in  the  business, 
that  the  twenty  who  were  driven  out  could  recover  compensation  for 
their  liquors,  business,  and  fixtures.  One  argument  made  by  both  Mr. 
Duffield  and  Professor  Kent  in  favor  of  taxation  is  that  it  reduces  the 


THE  LIFE  'OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  301 

number  of  saloons.  No  man  will  claim  that  if  taxation  drove  half  of  the 
liquor-sellers  out  of  the  business  they  could  recover  against  the  city  for 
damage  done.  Now,  if  the  one  half  driven  out  could  not  recover  com- 
pensation, where  is  the  argument  that  would  give  the  other  half  com- 
pensation when  they  were  driven  out  of  the  business  for  doing  exactly  the 
same  thing  that  the  others  had  done  ?  The  fact  is,  that  the  liquor-sellers 
of  this  country,  sitting  in  their  idleness,  have  grown  rich  off  the  ruin  of 
the  homes  of  the  country,  and  if  they  are  in  favor  of  equitable  compen- 
sation, the  people  will  have  no  reason  to  fear  the  settlement.  If  they 
will  return  to  the  tax-payers  of  the  State  the  money  that  the  tax-payers 
have  been  compelled  to  pay  to  take  care  of  the  products  of  their  busi- 
ness ;  if  they  will  return  to  the  families  of  the  State  the  money  that 
has  been  squandered  by  husband,  by  father,  and  by  son,  the  State  can 
afford  to  pay  for  every  distillery,  every  brewery,  every  saloon,  and  all 
the  fixtures  and  liquors  in  those  establishments. 

"  But,  really,  the  worst  feature  of  this  whole  canvass  is,  that  this 
business,  realizing  that  it  has  no  legitimate  defence,  is  stooping  to 
methods  which  threaten  the  social,  the  industrial,  and  the  commercial 
prosperity  of  this  country.  The  temperance  men  have  simply  asked  an 
intelligent  examination  and  discussion  of  the  question.  They  have  been 
met  by  boycotting,  bulldozing,  and  outrage.  The  safety  of  our  institu- 
tions depends  upon  the  right  of  the  people  to  assemble  and  discuss  all 
matters  of  public  policy,  and  anything  that  prevents  such  assemblage 
and  such  discussion  is  an  enemy  of  our  liberties  and  our  free  institu- 
tions. The  proposition  to  boycott  business  men  for  their  honest  opin- 
ion, the  attempts  to  burn  churches,  the  threats  to  take  human  life, 
should  prejudice  everybody  against  a  business  that  has  no  other  de- 
fence. In  Holly  the  other  night  the  people  were  assembled  in  the  Meth- 
odist church  to  listen  to  a  prohibition  speech.  The  liquor-sellers,  to 
break  up  the  meeting,  fired  the  building,  and  to  say  that  I  was  aston- 
ished hardly  expresses  my  feelings  as  I  read  the  statement  made  by 
Professor  Kent  when  he  said,  speaking  of  this  outrage  :  '  Again,  gentle- 


302  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

men,  when  men  feel  that  way,  if  you  consider  them  altogether,  how  are 
you  going  to  enforce  the  law  ?  I  know  of  no  way.  And  what  are  the 
means  they  are  likely  to  use  in  withstanding  any  attempt  to  enforce 
it?  I  will  tell  you  what  means  they  will  use.  They  will  begin  with 
legal  means  probably.  They  will  prevent  juries  from  convicting,  they 
will  undertake  to  overthrow  the  law  and  probably  they  will  succeed.  If 
they  do  not  succeed  in  that,  then  they  will  use  what  means  God  and 
nature  has  placed  in  their  hands  to  defend  what  they  regard  as  their 
most  sacred  rights.' 

' '  I  ask  now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  if  a  more  outrageous  and  more 
dangerous  sentiment  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  a  public  man.  He  says  : 
'  I  am  the  last  one  to  excuse  or  defend  the  attempt  to  burn  the  Meth- 
odist churches. '  But  does  he  repudiate  it  ?  Bead  :  '  And  can  we,  whose 
fathers  secured  their  liberty  in  ways  not  unlike  these — can  we  say  that  if 
our  rights,  which  we  thought  were  sacred,  were  assailed  in  that  way,  we 
should  do  otherwise?  I  fear  not.'  Such  language  says  to  every  liquor- 
seller  outlaw  in  the  country  :  '  If  I  were  in  your  place  and  my  business 
were  attacked,  I  would  burn  churches,  destroy  property,  or  use  any 
means  that  God  and  nature  had  given  me  to  defend  myself.'  There  is 
no  excuse  for  the  use  of  these  words.  This  discussion  is  the  discussion 
of  a  matter  of  governmental  policy.  The  people  are  intelligent.  This  is 
a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,  and  to 
attempt  in  any  way  to  extenuate  the  burning  of  buildings,  the  boycot- 
ting of  business  men,  the  taking  of  human  life,  is  to  open  the  doors  for 
murder  and  anarchy  in  this  country.  Some  enemy  of  Ireland  certainly 
must  have  been  whispering  in  the  ears  of  Professor  Kent,  or  he  would 
have  made  no  attempt  to  compare  the  ragged,  homeless  outcast  of  Glen- 
beigh  with  the  bloated  liquor-sellers  of  this  State.  Look  :  A  woman  is 
driven  from  the  home  of  her  fathers  in  rags  and  misery  to  starve  beside 
the  street.  Look  again  :  A  man  is  sitting  in  the  doors  of  a  saloon  in 
entire  idleness,  growing  rich  off  the  homes,  the  misery,  the  suffering 
and  agony  of  the  women  and  children.  Then  compare  the  Irish  mother, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  303 

shivering  in  the  storm,  trembling  in  the  blast,  with  the  drunkard-maker 
of  Detroit.  To  insinuate  that  our  forefathers  secured  their  liberty  by 
boycotting,  by  attempting  to  fire  churches  filled  with  women  and  chil- 
dren, is  to  insult  the  noblest  dead  of  the  nation.  Later,  in  his  endeavor 
to  extenuate  the  use  of  this  language,  Professor  Kent  says  in  the  Free 
Press :  '  The  meeting  to  which  my  remarks  were  addressed  was  com- 
posed almost  wholly  of  our  most  conservative  and  law-abiding  citizens. 
There  was  no  danger  of  exciting  them  to  mob  law.'  But  Professor  Kent 
is  a  public  man,  the  speech  was  made  in  a  public  place,  it  was  printed 
in  the  public  press,  and  he  had  no  right  to  make  a  speech  before  that 
audience  that  he  could  not  have  made  before  any  audience  in  this  coun- 
try. '  There  was  no  danger  of  exciting  them  to  mob  law  ; '  but  suppose 
that  building  had  been  full  of  the  liquor-sellers  and  their  tools  in  this 
city,  would  it  have  excited  them  to  mob  law  ?  Does  not  every  infer- 
ence of  the  statement  justify  the  use  of  force,  of  bloodshed,  and  of  mur- 
der to  defend  the  nefarious  traffic  ? 

' '  I  want  to  say,  calmly  and  deliberately,  that  this  is  a  free  country  ; 
our  forefathers  fought  and  died  at  Bunker  Hill,  at  Brandywine,  at  York- 
town,  and  starved  at  Valley  Forge  to  build  on  this  continent  a  republic. 
For  a  hundred  years  this  country  has  prospered. 

"  The  broadest  discussion  of  all  questions  has  been  allowed.  The  will 
of  the  majority  has  been  the  controlling  power,  and  now,  at  the  close  of 
the  first  century  of  our  history,  it  sounds  strange  to  hear  men  born  in 
other  countries,  who  have  fled  to  this  country  to  escape  despotisms,  say 
to  American  business  men  :  '  You  shall  not  think,  you  shall  not  act, 
you  shall  not  follow  your  own  conscientious  convictions  upon  matters 
of  public  policy  ;  if  you  lay  your  finger  upon  a  public  evil,  we  will  boy- 
cott your  business  ;  if  you  endeavor  to  destroy  a  public  nuisance,  we 
will  burn  your  property  ;  if  you  endeavor  to  enforce  the  law  against 
law-breakers,  we  will  murder  you. '  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  if  there  is 
any  man  in  this  country  who  is  dissatisfied  with  American  institutions, 
with  American  ideas,  with  the  American  methods  of  procedure  in  public 


304:  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

matters,  it  will  not  cost  him  any  more  to  buy  a  ticket  from  New  York  to 
go  to  the  country  from  which  he  came,  than  it  did  to  buy  a  ticket  from 
that  country  to  this.  America  is  a  free  country.  The  freedom  of  action, 
the  freedom  of  speech  must  be  upheld,  and  all  attempts  at  mob  vio- 
lence, all  attempts  at  anarchy,  all  attempts  at  outlawry,  must  be  sup- 
pressed by  the  hand  of  law,  and  that  law  upheld  and  sustained  by  the 
people.  The  idea  of  a  teacher  of  young  men  in  a  public  institution  like 
Ann  Arbor  justifying,  even  by  implication,  the  burning  of  a  Methodist 
church,  where  men  and  women  were  assembled  to  listen  to  the  discus- 
sion of  a  public  question,  shows  the  dangerous  and  alarming  tendencies 
of  our  times.  The  saloon  is  the  hot-bed  of  anarchy,  the  hot-bed  of  law- 
lessness, the  hot-bed  of  mob  rule,  the  hot-bed  of  murder,  and  those  in 
favor  of  good  order,  those  in  favor  of  the  enforcement  of  law,  must 
strike  down  this  enemy  of  the  civilization  and  liberties  of  this  country. 

' '  It  has  been  urged  by  the  opponents  of  the  amendment  that  if  the 
amendment  be  adopted,  there  is  no  guarantee  that  the  Legislature  will 
enact  laws  to  enforce  it.  The  amendment,  if  adopted,  will  be  adopted 
by  a  majority  of  the  voters.  If  a  majority  of  the  voters  are  in  favor,  four 
fifths  of  the  women  are  certainly  in  favor,  and  that  would  give  a  pre- 
ponderance of  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  enactment.  In  the  State  of 
Iowa  the  amendment,  after  being  adopted,  was  declared  unconstitutional- 
ly adopted  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  ;  but  despite  this  fact,  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  enacted  a  stringent  prohibitory  law,  and  at  each 
legislative  session  since,  the  stringency  of  the  law  has  been  increased. 

"  In  Kansas  and  Rhode  Island  the  same  results  followed  the  adoption 
of  the  law,  and  in  Michigan,  if  a  majority  of  the  voters  of  the  State  de- 
clare in  favor  of  the  amendment,  it  will  not  be  safe  for  any  political 
party  or  any  politician  to  defy  the  will  of  the  people  in  this  matter. 
This  is  a  government  of  the  people,  and  a  majority  of  the  people  must 
rule.  Let  politicians  defy  the  will  of  the  people  and  the  political  under- 
taker will  not  complain  for  want  of  business. 

"  In  conclusion,  let  me  urge  that  the  grog-shop  is  the  primary  school 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  305 

of  crime,  pauperism,  and  vice.  This  is  admitted.  License  and  tax  have 
been  tried  in  this  country  and  in  Europe  for  hundreds  of  years,  and 
have  failed  to  diminish  the  evils  resulting  from  the  public  bar-room. 
The  only  features  urged  in  the  defence  of  license  and  tax  regulation 
are  the  prohibitory  features,  and  if  the  prohibitory  features  are  the 
only  part  of  the  license  laws  which  can  be  defended,  then  why  not 
reject  the  license  features  and  make  the  laws  wholly  prohibitory  ?  The 
tax  features  of  the  law  have  failed.  Mr.  Duffield  again  and  again  con- 
cedes this  in  his  speech.  Urging  its  good  features,  he  says  :  '  If  we 
should  run  out  into  the  country,  where  they  claim  this  temperance  senti- 
ment is  so  strong — although  I  don't  believe  there  are  many  of  them  who 
know  anything  about  it — they  would  find  how  it  works  ; '  thereby  con- 
ceding that  it  does  not  work  in  cities,  and  that  the  people  in  the  cities 
realize  no  benefits  from  the  law. 

"  Is  it  not  strange  that  with  the  law  working  for  years  in  Detroit, 
the  people  of  Detroit  do  not  realize  the  beneficial  features  it  is  claimed 
to  possess  ? 

"  Again,  he  says  :  '  I  doubt  very  much  whether  any  of  our  people 
here,  except  those  who  have  given  special  attention  to  it,  know  how 
great  the  benefit  of  these  provisions  in  the  tax  law  are,  to  say  nothing 
about  what  has  been  done.'  But  the  people  here  do  not  know  that  out 
of  over  three  hundred  complaints  against  liquor- dealers  in  Detroit  last 
year,  but  twenty-two  of  them  have  been  tried,  and  that  the  rest  are 
pigeon  holed  or  linger  in  the  courts  of  the  city.  The  trouble  with  Mr. 
Duffield's  argument  is  that  the  tax  does  not  work,  and  that  the  ordinary 
machinery  of  Government  cannot  work  it.  His  constant  iteration  and 
reiteration  that  the  people  ought  to  ascertain  the  beneficial  features  and 
make  it  work  reminds  me  of  the  Irish  porter  who,  at  the  Adams  House, 
in  Boston,  was  one  night  sent  by  the  night  clerk  to  accompany  a  gentle- 
man to  his  room.  After  Pat  had  deposited  the  baggage,  the  gentleman 
said  :  '  I  want  to  be  called  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.'  The  Irish- 
man replied,  '  Faith,  I  go  on  at  twelve  and  off  at  twelve.  Do  you 


306  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

think  I  will  be  sitting  up  all  night  to  call  you  ? '  'I  don't  care  whether 
you  call  me  or  not,  I  want  to  be  called.'  '  Oh,  you  want  I  should  lave 
word  at  the  office  ? '  '  Leave  it  where  you  please,  only  say  that  I  am  to 
be  called.'  '  All  right,  sir,'  and  the  Irishman  left.  A  few  minutes  later 
he  went  back  and  rapped  on  the  door.  The  gentleman  opened  the  door, 
and  said  :  '  What  do  you  want  ?  '  '  Faith,  sir,  for  fear  there  might  be 
some  mistake  about  calling  you,  I  thought  I  would  come  back  and  tell 
you  there  is  no  need  of  calling  a  gentleman  in  this  hotel.  Do  you  see 
that  little  bunch  up  there  with  a  knob  in  the  middle '  (pointing  to  the 
electrical  bell  call)  ?  '  When  you  want  to  be  called  in  the  morning  iust 
turn  over,  put  your  thumb  on  that  bunch  and  push,  and  the  boy  will 
come  up  and  call  you,  sure." 

"  The  tax  law  of  this  State,  in  the  hands  of  the  proper  officers  of  the 
State,  has  been  demonstrated  to  be  unworkable,  and  the  people  are  left 
to  call  themselves,  and  to  perform  the  duties  that  other  men  are  elected 
to  perform  and  paid  for  doing.  After  ten  years  of  failure  the  people 
propose  to  repudiate  the  fraud,  and  Mr.  Duffield  hastens  forward  to  say 
in  substance  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  people  to  create  a  Government 
inside  the  Government,  and  work  the  fraud  themselves. 

"  In  closing  his  speech,  Mr.  Duffield  has  seen  fit  to  say  that  two  ban- 
ners have  been  erected  in  this  campaign— the  one,  the  banner  of  pro- 
hibition ;  the  other,  the  banner  of  taxation  and  license—  and  by  this  he 
seeks  to  draw  an  invidious  comparison  between  the  followers  of  one 
banner  and  the  followers  of  the  other.  I  am  glad  he  has  done  this,  for 
when  he  says,  '  All  bad  men  are  in  favor  of  the  amendment, '  it  justifies 
me  in  showing  what  kind  of  people  indorse  him  and  his  speech  and  how 
utterly  reckless  he  is  in  his  statements.  I  want  to  challenge  his  state- 
ment by  saying :  When,  on  the  4th  of  April,  the  vote  on  the  amendment 
has  been  counted,  one  of  two  camps  in  this  State  will  rejoice  ;  and, 
while  I  do  not  wish  to  insinuate  that  every  man  who  votes  against  the 
amendment  is  a  bad  man,  I  do  want  to  say  that  the  bad  men  and  the 
bad  women  in  this  State  are  not  in  favor  of  the  amendment. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  307 

1 '  Desiring  to  meet  his  empty  statement  with  evidence  which  he  could 
not  break  down,  I  sent  a  trusted  detective  to  take  a  census  of  the  gam- 
bling hells,  the  saloons,  and  the  houses  of  ill-fame  in  Grand  Rapids. 

He  telegraphs  me  as  follows  : 

"  '  GBAND  KAPIDS,  March  26. 

"  '  Visited  professional  gamblers  ;  sixty-four  against  the  amendment. 
Saloon-keepers,  twenty-six  against  the  amendment.  Houses  of  ill-fame, 
six  against  the  amendment.  None  for  the  amendment.' 

' '  Another  equally  trusty  officer  working  in  the  city  of  Detroit  visited  the 
houses  of  ill-fame  in  this  city  to  take  a  canvass  of  the  inmates  ;  to  show 
you  their  feeling,  let  me  read  the  interviews,  omitting  the  name  of  the 
keeper  and  the  name  of  the  street.  If  anybody  doubts  the  correctness 
of  these  statements  and  will  come  on  the  platform  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  I  will  give  him  the  name  of  the  keeper  and  the  number  and 
name  of  the  street  : 

"  In  the  first  house  visited,  the  proprietor  said  :  '  Oh,  stuff  !  The 
amendment  can  never  be  carried. "  See  what  the  Free  Press  said  the 
other  day  ;  it  had  about  one  half  of  its  paper  filled  with  speeches  against 
it,  and  with  good  big  men  here.  "Why,  the  Opera  House  was  packed 
with  men  who  thought  as  they  did.  If  carried,  good-by,  Detroit !  I  am 
off  to  some  other  place  ;  no  drinks,  no  money  here,  and  that  is  what  I 
want.  I  tell  you,  lots  of  it  is  drunk  in  these  houses,  and  if  it  was  not 
for  that,  girls  would  be  in  hard  luck  ;  but  the  boys  will  beat  it  sure.' 

"  The  keeper  of  another  house  said  :  '  No  prohibition  here.  That 
Duffield  meeting  was  the  thing !  You  can't  do  without  it.  Men  will 
drink.  Why,  look  how  many  there  are  in  the  business,  and  they  ain't 
going  to  shut  up,  and  don't  you  forget  it.' 

"  In  another  house  the  proprietress  said  :  '  You  can  come  here  any 
time  in  the  next  ten  years  and  get  what  you  want,  if  you  pay  for  it. 
Prohibition  won't  be  carried  and  I  know  it.  All  the  men  say  so.  Why, 
you  can't  do  it.  When  they  want  to  drink  they  will  do  it,  and  those 
who  don't  want  it  will  let  it  alone.  Say,  did  you  read  the  papers  the 


308  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

other  day?  You  ought  to  see  the  speeches  made  by  all  the  big  men  here. 
They  say  it  can't  be  done — that  license  is  right  ;  and  so  it  is.' 

"  In  another  house  :  '  I  -will  bet  you  the  drinks  all  around  that  the 
amendment  won't  carry.  Too  many  want  their  drinks.  See  what  a  large 
amount  is  drunk  in  the  sporting  houses.  That  is  how  a  good  many  of 
the  men  spend  their  money,  having  the  girls  to  while  away  a  few  hours 
with.  They  take  enough  to  make  them  feel  good,  and  generally  behave 
themselves.  Better  for  them  to  take  it  in  a  comfortable  house  than  in 
saloons  with  a  lot  of  dead-beats  waiting  to  be  treated.  We  pay  our 
license  and  will  have  it.' 

"  In  another  house  :  '  I  don't  believe  it  can  be  carried.  Too  many 
want  the  stuff,  and  the  best  men  in  town  patronize  our  house  and  like 
to  treat  the  girls.  It  does  no  one  any  harm,  and  gives  the  men  lots  of 
pleasure  to  spend  a  social  hour.  Mark  my  words,  you  will  never  see 
prohibition  in  this  State.  The  whiskey  men  have  a  good  deal  of  money 
that  is  to  be  used  to  defeat  it,  and  you  bet  they  will  do  it.  These  poli- 
ticians know  their  business,  and  know  where  they  get  help  on  election 
day.  The  speeches  of  Duffield  and  Kent  were  just  to  the  point." 

"  The  proprietress  of  another  house  said  :  '  It  never  can  be  carried. 
Look  at  what  the  big  men  say.  If  it  should  be  carried  it  will  make 
our  houses  dull.  I  have  been  here  only  a  few  months,  but  I  have 
seen  enough  to  convince  me  that  a  great  many  men  come  into  houses, 
and  are  drunk  or  pretty  well  set  up  when  they  come,  and  when  they 
wake  up  in  the  morning  in  our  room,  curse  and  swear  to  find  where  they 
are.  Of  course  it  will  be  dull,  but  if  the  business  is  prohibited,  I  guess 
it  will  be  no  good.' 

"  A  canvass  of  eighty  saloons  showed  a  unanimous  vote  against  the 
amendment  and  a  unanimous  indorsement  of  Duffield's  and  Kent's 
speeches.  Mr.  Duffield  should  not  have  invited  this  comparison,  for  .the 
world  knows  that  the  professedly  good  and  avowedly  bad  are  working 
together,  to  defeat  the  amendment  in  Michigan. 

"  On  the  night  of  the  4th  of  April,  if  the  amendment  be  defeated, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  309 

where  will  the  rejoicing  be  ?  Down  in  the  slums  where  bad  men  chink 
glasses  with  bad  women  !  In  drinking  houses  and  drinking  hells, 
where  mothers'  boys  are  ruined  !  In  the  saloons,  where  husbands  are 
made  brutes  !  In  bar-rooms,  where  fathers  are  wrecked  !  But  if  the 
amendment  be  carried,  there  will  not  be  a  drunkard's  wife  or  a  drunk- 
ard's child  who  will  not  see  the  stars  of  hope  breaking  through  the 
clouds  of  despair  !  The  church  bells  will  ring,  the  moral  people  of  the 
State  will  rejoice,  and  the  angels  in  heaven  will  sing  an  anthem  over  a 
State  redeemed  from  the  licensed  promoters  of  vice,  crime,  and  im- 
morality !" 

Mr.  Finch  received  many  letters  of  congratulation  from 
prominent  temperance  workers  for  this  masterly  effort. 
The  following  was  especially  prized  by  him. 

"  TEUTON,  MICH.,  March  28,  1887. 

"  DEAR  JOHN  :  Bless  your  soul !  I  would  hug  you  if  I  could.  I  just 
read  your  speech.  It  does  not  leave  enough  of  Mr.  Duffield's  arguments 
for  a  '  free  bar-room  lunch.' 

"  I  do  pray  that  some  good  angel  may  watch  over  and  keep  you,  to 
lead  us  into  the  promised  land  of  prohibition. 

"  Do  not  overwork.     You  deserve  a  good  rest  after  this  week. 

"  We  cannot  afford  to  lose  you,  my  boy,  until  the  final  victory  comes 
to  the  nation.  I  believe  there  is  a  great  future  for  John  B.  Finch. 

"  God  bless  you,  John,  always. 

"  Lovingly  yours  ever, 

"  GEOEOE  W.  BATN." 

In  a  very  kindly  editorial  concerning  the  life  and  labors 
of  Mr.  Finch,  the  Michigan  Christian  Advocate  refers  to 
his  answer  to  Duffield  and  his  associates  : 

"  John  B.  Finch  took  part  in  every  great  campaign  for  the  Prohibition 
Party  during  recent  years,  and  was  the  strong  right  arm  of  every  move- 


310  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH, 

ment  for  winning  constittitional  or  local  prohibition  which  he  entered. 
Since  the  death  of  John  B.  Gough,  Mr.  Finch  has  been  everywhere  con- 
sidered the  foremost  platform  orator  for  temperance  and  prohibition  in 
America.  His  address  at  Beecher  Hall  in  this  city  during  the  amendment 
campaign  was  a  magnificent  effort,  and  those  who  listened  to  its  logic 
and  its  remarkably  brilliant  passages  will  never  forget  either  the  orator 
or  the  oration." 

His  intense  interest  in  the  Michigan  campaign  and  ardent 
hope  for  success  is  indicated  in  the  following  letter  written 
to  Chancellor  Fairfield  two  weeks  after  the  election  : 

"  SHAMOKIN,  PA.,  April  19,  1887. 

"  MY  DEAE  DOCTOR  :  Your  more  than  kind  letter  of  April  10th  came  to 
me  here  to-day.  I  truly  appreciate  your  kind  words,  for  though  new 
friends  may  praise,  their  words  can  never  take  the  place  of  words  of 
commendation  and  confidence  from  the  old  friends. 

"  Our  defeat  in  Michigan  made  me  half  heartsick.  I  have  kept  a  stiff 
upper  lip  in  public,  but,  in  private,  if  it  were  not  for  my  faith  in  God, 
I  should  feel  like  giving  up.  If  there  had  been  ten  honest  Kepublican 
leaders  like  you  in  Michigan  we  should  have  had  an  honest  count,  or  a 
majority  so  large  they  could  not  have  counted  it  out. 

"  The  only  hope  for  the  future  must  be  in  the  destruction  of  the  old 
corrupt  party  machines,  and  the  pushing  of  honorable  leaders  to  the 
front. 

"  For  the  good  of  humanity  and  civilization  we  must  win,  and  must 
stand  together  to  win. 

"  Your  friend, 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

Unable  to  participate  in  person  in  the  struggles  for  con- 
stitutional prohibition  in  Texas,  Tennessee,  and  Oregon, 
he  arranged  for  the  distribution  of  several  thousand  copies 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  311 

of  "  The  People  vs.  the  Liquor  Traffic"  in  each  of  those 
States,  and  to  the  workers  he  gave  counsel  and  advice  in 
hundreds  of  letters  and  personal  interviews. 

In  conversation  with  friends  in  Chicago  some  months 
before  the  election  in  the  above  States,  he  said,  in  answer 
to  their  expressions  of  confidence  of  victory  in  Texas  : 

"  No,  we  shall  not  carry  Texas.  The  national  Demo- 
cratic leaders  will  not  permit  it.  It  will  be  defeated  by 
more  than  seventy-five  thousand  majority.  The  Republi- 
can leaders  have  determined  to  beat  us  in  Oregon,  and  I  do 
not  believe  we  shall  carry  Tennessee,  though  the  majority 
against  us  in  that  State  may  not  be  very  large.  The  edict 
of  the  old  party  leaders  has  gone  forth,  and  we  shall  carry 
no  more  constitutional  amendments  while  they  are  in  power. 
Our  next  victory  for  the  principle  must  be  won  by  the 
Prohibition  Party,  and  it  will  be  impossible  to  win  by  any 
other  means.  The  education  of  the  people  in  amendment 
campaigns  will  be  helpful,  but  if  it  were  not  for  that  I 
should  consider  it  time  and  money  wasted  to  ever  go  into 
such  a  campaign  again." 

J.  B.  Cranfill,  editor  of  the  Waco  (Texas)  Advance, 
writes  concerning  the  defeat  of  constitutional  prohibition 
in  that  State  : 

"  At  the  close  of  the  campaign  in  Texas,  there  was  a  tremendous  pres- 
sure brought  to  bear  on  party  Prohibitionists,  to'  abandon  their  organ- 
ization, give  up  the  fight  forever,  and  again  be  merged  into  the  Demo- 
cratic Party. 


312  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  As  Chairman  of  the  State  Executive  Committee,  I  felt  the  force  of 
this  pressure.  I  wrote  to  John  B.  Finch  explaining  the  situation.  His 
answer  came,  the  last  letter  I  ever  received  from  him.  It  was  dated 
September  12th,  1887,  and  is  as  follows  : 

" '  MY  DEAB  FRIEND  CBANFILL  :  I  have  read  the  result  of  the  Texas  elec- 
tion. I  sympathize  with  you  in  your  defeat,  but  hope,  like  the  defeat  at 
Bunker  Hill,  it  may  mean  ultimate  victory.  There  is  but  one  thing  for 
you  to  do,  and  that  is  to  defeat  the  whiskey  democracy  of  Texas  ;  and 
you  must  build  up  a  party  to  do  it.' 

"  His  regret  at  our  defeat  was  heartfelt  and  deep.  While  I  was  North, 
soliciting  funds  for  our  campaign,  no  one  took  a  heartier  interest  than 
Mr.  Finch.  He  had  previously  sent  his  personal  check  for  $50.  He  gave 
me  letters  to  friends  in  the  East,  who  did  much  to  help  the  work.  His 
heart  was  always  open  to  the  call  for  help  in  the  grand  cause  to  which  he 
dedicated  his  life." 

The  Rochester  (New  York)   Weekly  News  said  : 

"  Always  vigilant  and  active  in  the  interests  of  the  Order,  he  was  ever 
ready  to  send  speakers  not  only  to  the  different  States  to  assist  in  cam- 
paigns for  -constitutional  prohibition,  but  usually  led  them  into  the  field. 
Cut  off  in  the  early  prime  of  his  manhood,  he  illustrates  Young's  ex- 
pression— 

"  '  That  life  is  long  which  answers  life's  great  end.'  " 

His  wonderful  stores  of  knowledge,  especially  on  all  sub- 
jects nearly  or  remotely  related  to  the  temperance  question  ; 
his  powers  of  vivid  description  and  systematic  reasoning  ; 
the  fascination  of  his  magnetic  eloquence — all  combined  to 
make  his  platform  work  almost  a  necessity  to  the  success  of 
the  cause. 

Concerning  John  B.  Finch  as  an  orator,  that  peerless 
American  lecturer,  George  "W.  Bain,  writes  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  313 

"  Of  John  B.  Finch  as  a  husband,  father,  friend,  or  citizen,  one  might 
hope  to  give  illustrations  which  would  portray  the  character  of  the  man 
so  much  missed  and  mourned  ;  but  in  entering  the  theatre  where  he 
won  his  greatness  and  attempting  to  analyze  his  oratory,  I  cannot  hope  to 
do  him  justice. 

"  No  words,  however  fitly  chosen,  can  in  a  brief  space  measure  the 
man  who,  from  obscurity  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  reaches  such  an  emi- 
nence of  fame  at  thirty-five. 

' '  He  had  other  elements  of  greatness  than  platform  power,  but  it  was 
his  ability  as  a  speaker  that  winged  his  night  to  an  early  fame.  While 
he  was  not  what  the  world  would  call  a  born  genius,  who,  despite  himself, 
must  be  distinguished,  yet  he  possessed  natural  qualities  seldom  given 
to  men.  These  qualities  he  strengthened  by  application  and  constant 
practice,  and  had  he  lived,  would  have  matured  them  into  a  perfection 
few  orators  have  reached.  He  grew  very  rapidly  in  the  graces  of  oratory 
during  the  last  two  years  of  his  life,  the  marked  improvement  being  in 
spirit  of  address  and  ease  of  delivery. 

"  He  was  not  only  an  orator,  but  a  thinker  whose  correct  reasoning 
brought  conviction  to  all  unprejudiced  minds.  He  went  to  the  depth  of 
his  subject,  and  as  the  skilled  hunter  makes  sure  of  his  aim  ere  he 
springs  the  trigger,  so  did  John  B.  Finch  have  a  precision  of  aim  which 
never  failed.  Very  few  men  have  lived  in  this  or  any  other  age  who  in 
the  same  space  of  time  so  mastered  the  art  of  oratory  and  used  it  to 
garland  such  strength  of  thought.  His  matured  argument,  precision  of 
aim,  and  clearness  of  expression  were  supported  by  a  strong  personality. 
His  earnestness  was  magnetism  ;  his  attitude  eloquence  ;  his  eye  sa- 
gacity ;  his  lips  courage  ;  and  these,  with  his  manly  form,  bearing,  and 
gestures,  made  him  a  powerful  platform  speaker.  I  have  had  opportuni- 
ties to  feel  the  force  of  his  combined  powers,  for  it  was  my  embarrassing 
lot  to  share  with  him  on  twenty  successive  evenings  the  honors  of  New 
England  platforms. 

"  The  last  time  I  heard  him  was  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  before  a  large 


314  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

audience.  Smoothly  and  naturally  he  entered  upon  the  discussion  of 
his  theme.  His  ease  of  manners  told  his  confidence  in  his  cause,  while 
his  clearness  of  statement  and  concise  reasoning  told  his  knowledge  of 
his  subject.  It  was  an  arraignment  of  the  liquor  traffic.  As  he  ad- 
vanced, it  was  as  a  great  vessel  without  a  rope  amiss  or  mast  ajar,  and 
harmless  pressure  in  every  sail,  ploughing  the  waters  with  an  ease  which 
proclaims  her  mistress  of  the  sea. 

"  He  met  the  arguments  against  prohibition  as  the  bow  of  the  vessel 
meets  the  blue  waves  and  dashes  them  into  spray. 

"  One  minute  he  would  uncover  a  sophistry  and  leave  no  doubt  of  the 
exposure  ;  then  rend  a  deception  with  his  piercing  statement  of  the 
truth,  clinch  every  argument  he  made  with  irresistible  force  of  reason- 
ing, and  massing  all  the  elements  of  opposition,  he  rode  over  them  like 
an  eagle  on  the  face  of  a  storm. 

"  He  was  not  a  mimic,  yet  he  had  a  remarkable  power  of  facial  ex- 
pression, and  of  a  character  suited  to  the  highest  order  of  talent.  1 
have  seen -him  when  a  denunciation  of  the  wicked  license  system  was 
accompanied  with  a  look  of  inexpressible  disgust ;  again,  when  his  eyes, 
ablaze  with  flashes  of  fire,  would  illumine  his  whole  range  of  thought ;  then 
would  come  a  peroration  wreathed  in  smiles  which  beamed  with  faith  in 
the  ultimate  verdict  of  the  people,  and  these  radiations  of  triumphant 
assurance  would  so  thrill  his  audience  as  to  make  strong  men  weep  with 
joy,  while  applause  long  and  loud  attested  his  power. 

"  The  strength  of  his  mind,  art  of  his  eloquence,  and  courage  of  his 
convictions,  enabled  him  to  deal  in  sarcasm,  which,  though  it  cut  to  the 
quick,  was  effective  because  of  the  smoothness  of  the  blade. 

"  In  no  one  effort,  perhaps,  did  he  so  nearly  come  up  to  the  full  meas- 
ure of  his  powers  as  when  he  replied  to  Hon.  D.  Bethune  Duffield, 
of  Detroit,  during  the  constitutional  amendment  campaign  in  Michi- 
gan. 

"  A  prominent  citizen  of  Detroit  said,  '  It  has  not  been  equalled  since 
Webster  answered  Hayne  ;'  but  only  those  who  were  present  to  see  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  315 

hear  him  could  get  the  full  force  of  the  effort.  Cold  type  could  no  more 
report  John  B.  Finch  than  it  could  Henry  Clay. 

"  The  old  adage,  '  It  is  not  so  much  what  a  man  says  as  the  way  he 
says  it,'  I  saw  exemplified  when  associated  with  Mr.  Finch  in  the  '  no- 
license  '  campaign  in  Massachusetts  about  three  years  ago.  We  were 
invited  to  address  the  young  men  of  Harvard  College.  Rev.  Edward 
Everett  Hale  presided.  When  he  introduced  John  B.  Finch,  he  arose 
and  said  :  '  Young  gentlemen,  I  am  from  the  frontiers  of  civilization, 
where  the  "  cow-boys"  and  the  Indians  live.  You  have  read  of  the  red 
man,  but  perhaps  you  know  nothing  of  the  "  cow-boy."  If  not,  it  may 
be  of  interest  to  tell  you  something  of  this  cattle  ranch  monarch.  A 
cow-boy  is  the  graduate  of  an  Eastern  college.'  I  was  seated  where  I  could 
not  see  the  force  of  his  expressive  face,  and  I  shuddered  lest  this  bold 
definition  of  a  '  cow-boy '  should  be  received  with  hisses. 

' '  But  the  college  boys  could  see  the  open,  kindly  face  of  the  broad- 
browed  orator,  and  behind  the  definition  they  read  the  deeper  meaning 
that  college  culture,  without  other  graces  of  manhood,  could  easily  degen- 
erate into  '  cow-boy '  character,  while  in  the  '  cow-boy  *  were  elements 
of  manhood  which,  if  supplemented  by  college  culture,  would  make  a 
useful  citizen.  They  accepted  the  lesson,  '  A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that,' 
and  made  the  chapel  ring  with  applause. 

"  No  greater  evidence  can  be  given  of  his  ability  as  a  platform  speaker 
than  the  speed  of  his  upward  flight.  In  1878  talking  on  the  streets  and 
in  canvas  tents  of  the  far  West,  a  comparatively  friendless  and  unknown 
reformer  ;  in  1887  pacing,  with  the  steady  tread  of  a  veteran,  the  platform 
of  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  with  seats  and  aisles  crowded  by  the  culture 
of  the  East,  to  shout  his  genius  onward  and  upward.  In  1878  the  humble 
follower  of  a  principle  to  which  he  pledged  his  mother  he  would  prove 
true  ;  in  1887  the  leader  of  the  Prohibition  Party  of  this  country,  the 
reunited  Good  Templary  of  the  world  and  the  air  freighted  with  the 
sighs  of  sorrowing  thousands  who  mourn  his  death. 

"  While  it  is  not  my  province  in  this  tribute  to  refer  to  him  except  as 


316  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

an  orator,  the  crowding  memories  of  an  association  full  of  evidences  of 
his  generous  nature,  and  the  unreconciled  thought  of  his  dying  in  the 
very  prime  of  manhood,  with  great  purposes  in  view,  prompts  me  to 
close  this  humble  tribute  to  his  platform  powers  with  a  heartfelt  expres- 
sion I  gave  in  an  article  soon  after  his  death — oh,  that  his  life-blood 
could  have  played  healthful  music  through  the  valves  of  his  great  heart, 
as  did  great  thoughts  course  through  his  massive  brain,  to  the  delight  of 
his  hearers  and  the  service  of  his  country  and  his  kind." 


CHAPTER  X. 

NO   LICENSE   AND   OTHER   WOKK. 

No  answer  comes  to  those  that  pray 

And  idly  stand 
And  wait  for  stones  to  roll  away 

At  God's  command. 
He  will  not  break  the  binding  cords 

Upon  us  laid, 
If  we  depend  on  pleading  words 

And  do  not  aid. 
When  hands  are  idle,  words  are  vain 

To  move  the  stone  ; 
An  aiding  angel  would  disdain 

To  work  alone. 
But  he  who  prayeth,  and  is  strong 

In  faith  and  deed, 
And  toileth  earnestly,  erelong 

He  will  succeed. 

J.  C.  EockweU. 

fnnHERE  could  be  no  more  convincing  evidence  of  the 
-*-    versatility  of  Mr.  Finch's  genius  and  his  marvellous 
perseverance  than  the  successes  achieved  by  him  in  different 
lines  of  work. 

As  a  Good  Templar  organizer  he  won  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion. 


318  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

As  a  Eed  Ribbon  revivalist  he  made  a  lasting  impression 
upon  the  communities  visited. 

As  a  debater  he  stood  pre-eminent. 

As  a  counsellor  he  was  wise  and  prudent,  far-seeing  and 
sagacious. 

As  an  executive  his  administration  was  bold  and  progres- 
sive, though  always  cautious  and  discreet. 

As  a  party  leader  he  was  shrewd,  cool,  and  intrepid, 
seeming  to  be  always  fore  warned  of  his  adversary's  intended 
attack  and  ready  for  a  gallant  defence. 

In  each  of  these  lines  of  work  peculiar  qualities  are  re- 
quired, and  he  lacked  none  of  them.  To  whichever  line 
of  effort  he  bent  his  thought,  for  the  time  that  care  and 
duty  absorbed  all  his  energies.  But  it  was  never  difficult 
for  him  to  shift  from  one  kind  of  work  to  another.  In  the 
heat  of  a  partisan  campaign  to-day,  he  could  take  his  place 
to-morrow  in  the  line  with  non-partisan  workers  for  no 
license  or  local  option,  and  receive  recognition  there  as  the 
most  discreet  and  judicious  leader  of  this  anti-liquor  legion. 

In  1883  and  1884  Mr.  Finch  made  an  engagement  for 
several  months  of  consecutive  work  in  Massachusetts,  leav- 
ing home  in  October.  It  had  always  been  his  custom  to 
spend  the  holidays  at  home,  but  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
they  would  come  in  the  middle  of  his  engagement  and  to 
be  at  home  would  necessitate  the  loss  of  much  time  and  the 
long  and  expensive  journey  to  Nebraska  and  return,  more 
than  thirty-six  hundred  miles,  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Finch  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  319 

"  If  you  can  take  care  of  the  home  and  the  boy  1  will 
remain  in  Massachusetts  through  the  holidays  and  put  the 
money  saved  into  temperance  work  here." 

He  remained  five  months,  speaking  almost  constantly. 
He  often  wrote  home  : 

11  This  is  a  long,  dreary  winter,  away  from  wife  and  boy, 
but  I  hope  I  am  building  a  temperance  sentiment  that  will 
be  as  enduring  as  the  New  England  hills." 

At  other  times  he  would  write  : 

"  I  hardly  know  how  I  can  endure  this  constant  absence 
from  home,  being  away  four  fifths  of  the  time.  It  is  the 
life  of  a  tramp. ' ' 

Again  he  wrote  Mrs.  Finch  : 

"  I  wish  you  could  come  and  spend  the  holidays  with 
me  here." 

In  the  home,  the  loneliness  of  Mrs.  Finch  was  even 
greater  during  those  dreary  months  of  her  husband's  ab- 
sence. One  day  she  said  to  Mrs.  Sibley  : 

"  I  cannot  endure  this  long  winter  unless  I  am  actively 
engaged  in  something  that  will  employ  my  mind  and  help 
me  to  forget  my  loneliness." 

Mrs.  Sibley  was  at  that  time  editing  and  publishing  two 
largely  circulated  temperance  papers,  through  the  medium 
of  which  she  had  an  extensive  acquaintance  in  the  State. 
She  at  once  suggested  the  plan  of  making  a  series  of  ap- 
pointments for  Mrs.  Finch,  urging  her  to  give  some  elocu- 
tionary entertainments.  To  this  plan  Mrs.  Finch  gave 


320  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

assent,  on  condition  that  Mrs.  Sibley  would  accompany  her, 
and  the  arrangements  were  accordingly  made.  Of  this 
work  Mrs.  Sibley  says  : 

"  Several  years  have  intervened  since  Mrs.  Finch  and  I 
made  the  trip  referred  to,  but  in  my  memory  are  recorded 
the  occurrences  as  plainly  as  if  they  were  of  yesterday. 

' '  '  Little  John  '  was  our  escort,  and  insisted  upon  carrying 
his  mother's  satchel.  When  he  was  remonstrated  with, 
and  told  that  it  was  too  heavy,  he  quietly  appropriated  it, 
saying  :  '  It  doesn'  t  look  well  for  ladies  to  carry  things.  I 
shall  carry  it  myself.' 

11  During  the  entire  trip  there  was  a  very  severe  storm — 
a  regular  Nebraska  blizzard,  with  the  thermometer  from 
ten  to  thirty  degrees  below  zero. 

' '  But  full  houses  greeted  Mrs.  Finch  everywhere.  They 
were  mixed  audiences,  as  is  the  case  in  our  Western  towns. 
Some  who  were  graduates  of  our  colleges,  and  others  who 
had  never  attended  school  ;  some  who  were  bright  and 
intelligent,  and  others  dull  and  unsympathetic  ;  but  the 
portraiture  of  the  varied  characters  was  given  with  such 
masterful  power  that  the  entire  audiences  indulged  in  the 
most  hearty  applause. 

"  One  moment  tears  would  trickle  down  the  cheeks  of 
the  hearers  as  some  deeply  pathetic  scene  was  depicted,  and 
perhaps  the  next,  all  would  be  smiling  through  the  crystal 
drops  at  some  sudden  humorous  sentence.  I  thought  of 
the  orator  of  whom  it  is  said  that  he  could  move  an  audi- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  321 

ence  to  tears  and  laughter  alternately  by  simply  repeating 
the  word  '  Mesopotamia,'  and  felt  that  his  power  was  being 
rivalled. 

"  Every  night  requests  from  the  audience  would  be  sent 
to  Mrs.  Finch  that  one  or  more  selections  might  be  re- 
peated, and  the  second  recital  was  certain  to  be  interrupted 
by  prolonged  applause. 

"  One  of  these  entertainments  was  given  in  the  city  where 
the  State  President  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  resided,  and  after  the  close  of  the  exercises  this  lady 
said  to  me  :  '  How  much  the  temperance  cause  has  missed 
because  Mrs.  Finch  does  not  go  upon  the  platform  as  one 
of  our  speakers  !  "With  her  superior  power  to  make  her 
words  impressive  and  effective,  she  would  win  so  many 
recruits  to  our  ranks.  It  would  be  of  the  greatest  benefit 
to  our  cause  if  circumstances  should  some  time  compel  her 
to  take  up  this  grand  work. ' 

"  The  trip  was  an  exceedingly  pleasant  one  despite  the 
severe  weather. 

"  Although  Mrs.  Finch  realized  keenly  the  sacrifice  she 
-was  making  in  giving  up  her  husband  to  the  temperance 
work  of  a  distant  State,  she  was  cheerful,  bright,  and  enter- 
taining, and  only  once  did  her  friends  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  mental  struggle  she  was  passing  through. 

"  One  day  the  friend  at  whose  house  we'  were  being 
entertained  returned  from  the  post-office  and  brought  no 
letter  from  her  absent  husband.  She  did  not  seem  to  under- 


322  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

stand,  and  said  :  '  There  certainly  is  a  letter  for  me.  This 
is  the  day  it  should  reach  me,  and  Mr.  Finch  never  fails  to 
write  to  me. '  A  feeling  of  anxiety  settled  over  her  face 
which  was  visible  until  it  was  discovered,  a  few  hours  later, 
that  her  letter  had  been  delivered  to  another  family  by  the 
name  of  Finch.  Then  the  sunshine  came  back  as  she  said  : 
'  I  knew  he  had  written.'  ' 

Dr.  Richard  Eddy,  Benjamin  R.  Jewell,  and  James  H. 
Roberts  have  prepared  the  following  description  of  the 
work  of  Mr.  Finch  in  Massachusetts,  much  of  which  was  in 
aid  of  no-license  struggles  : 

"  Nearly  all  the  work  done  by  Mr.  Finch  in  Massachusetts  was  under 
the  direction  of  the  Committee  on  Constitutional  Amendment ;  most  of 
it  with  that  issue  directly  in  view.  A  committee  was  selected  represent- 
ing all  the  leading  temperance  organizations  and  religious  denomina- 
tions in  the  State,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  and  all  political  parties.  All 
agreed  that  the  overthrow  of  the  dram-shop  was  the  most  important 
work  to  which  they  could  devote  their  united  energies.  Constitutional 
prohibition  was  their  ultimate  aim,  but  any  temperance  effort,  though  it 
did  not  point  directly  to  that  end,  had  their  full  sympathy  and  co-oper- 
ation. The  road  to  constitutional  prohibition  is  a  long  one.  At  the  best 
it  requires  three  years  for  the  people  to  decide  the  issue,  and  meanwhile 
much  else  might  be  done  to  educate  the  people. 

"  The  annual  recurrence  of  the  vote  in  the  towns  and  cities  on  the 
question  of  license  or  no  license,  furnished  the  opportunity  for  doing 
some  of  this  much-needed  work.  The  committee  determined  on  using 
Mr.  Finch  in  this  field.  No  sooner  had  they  announced  their  purpose 
than  applications  for  his  services  poured  in  from  every  part  of  the  com- 
monwealth. His  fame  had  gone  before  him,  and  the  demands  to  hear 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH.  323 

him  were  more  than  could  be  supplied.  Day  after  day  for  weeks  to- 
gether he  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  citizea  and  the  home,  presenting  facts 
and  arguments  with  faultless  logic  and  most  fervid  eloquence.  No  law- 
yer was  ever  more  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  client,  by  familiarizing 
himself  with  the  facts  in  the  case,  by  careful  preparation  of  the  most 
favorable  and  convincing  manner  of  presenting  them  to  the  court,  and 
in  winning  a  verdict  from  the  jury,  than  was  John  B.  Finch  in  prepar- 
ing, presenting,  and  urging  the  People's  Cause  on  the  attention  of  the 
crowds  who  nocked  to  hear  him.  His  methods  were  direct,  aggressive, 
incisive.  He  was  fighting  no  imaginary  foe.  He  performed  his  work  in 
no  perfunctory  manner.  A  damning  curse  confronted  him,  and  he  knew 
that  it  had  no  excuse  for  being.  He  drew  against  it  the  invincible 
'  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon,'  and  dealt  his  blows  on  the  monster 
vice  that  threatened  our  people's  homes  as  stoutly  and  as  effectively  as 
though  the  assault  of  the  demon  had  been  on  his  own  wife  and  boy,  fre- 
quently making  mention  of  them  as  threatened  and  assailed  equally  with 
the  dear  ones  in  other  homes.  The  strength  of  his  own  affections  and 
his  fidelity  to  the  best  interests  of  those  on  whom  he  had  centred  them, 
gave  a  reality  to  his  sympathy  with  all  the  homes  in  the  land  that  was 
obvious  to  all  who  heard  him.  This  conviction  of  his  sincerity  gave 
him  a  stronghold  on  the  people,  and  was  the  chief  reason  of  his  popular- 
ity with  the  masses.  They  saw  before  them  a  man  who  was  interested 
in  their  highest  good,  and  their  response  to  his  arguments  and  appeals 
was  instant  and  hearty  ;  and,  in  a  great  majority  of  instances,  has  been 
constant. 

"  His  power  to  disarm  prejudice  was  manifest  wherever  he  appeared. 
Many  instances  are  known  to  us  of  his  entire  conquest  of  men  of  intelli- 
gence and  influence  who,  having  severely  criticised  what  they  had  been 
informed  were  his  theories  and  methods,  became,  by  force  of  argument, 
their  most  zealous  champions.  It  may  be  said,  without  in  the  least  de- 
tracting from  the  merits  and  influence  of  other  speakers,  that  Mr.  Finch 
was  the  most  effective  advocate  of  aggressive  war  upon  the  liquor  traffic 


324  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

that  has  ever  appeared  on  the  American  platform.  He  dealt  in  no  plati- 
tudes, resorted  to  no  merely  sensational  methods,  indulged  in  no  super- 
ficial statements,  was  not  satisfied  with  leaving  a  mere  sensation  of 
pleasure  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers.  He  was  too  much  in  earnest  in 
seeking  the  overthrow  of  the  rum  power,  to  be  other  than  direct  and  to 
the  purpose  in  all  his  utterances.  He  believed  that  the  people  should 
be  enlightened  as  to  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  evil  he  was  warring 
against,  and  he  made  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  those  facts. 
His  studies  in  physiology,  law,  ethics,  economic  forces,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  government,  were  utilized  in  meeting  objections,  repelling 
sophistical  assaults,  and  producing  general  enlightenment.  He  aimed 
to  touch  the  conscience,  rouse  it  to  action,  and  to  bring  men  to  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  its  authority. 

"  The  result  of  his  work  in  Massachusetts  was  manifest  in  an  in- 
creased and  frequently  a  victorious  no-license  vote.  Many  men  went 
to  the  polls  with  a  sense  of  the  responsibility  of  citizenship  such  as  they 
had  never  felt  before.  Many  a  man  followed  up  the  result  of  his  ballot 
with  a  personal  interest  in  the  enforcement  of  the  will  expressed  by  the 
ballot,  such  as  he  had  never  dreamed  of  experiencing  before  ;  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  law  against  the  dram-shop  was  enforced,  and  its  benefi- 
cence was  demonstrated.  In  addition  to  this  immediate  result,  Mr. 
Finch's  campaign  in  this  commonwealth  exerted  an  incalculable  influ- 
ence in  creating  and  intensifying  the  public  sentiment  which  has  become 
so  pronounced  as  to  compel  the  dominant  party  to  recognize  the  demand 
of  the  people  for  the  privilege  of  voting  on  a  constitutional  amendment. 
It  greatly  aided  in  putting  conscience  into  our  politics,  and  in  bringing 
hundreds  and  thousands  to  realize  that  party  ties  are  burdensome  and  a 
curse  unless  the  party  to  whom  former  allegiance  has  been  paid  shall 
recognize  and  provide  for  the  supreme  interest  of  the  home,  and  plant 
itself  squarely  and  sincerely  on  an  avowal  to  root  out  and  exterminate 
the  dram-shop,  the  constantly  menacing  foe  of  the  home.  In  this  re- 
spect his  arguments  have  a  dynamic  force  which,  with  constantly  accu- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  325 

mulating  momentum,  will  be  felt  in  their  influence  against  the  '  giant 
crime  of  crimes,'  until  its  complete  overthrow  is  accomplished.  When 
that  day  comes  we  shall  see  more  clearly  than  we  do  now  the  beneficence 
of  the  work  of  John  B.  Finch  in  Massachusetts." 

About  the  middle  of  March,  1884,  Mr.  Finch  concluded 
the  work  of  the  winter  in  Massachusetts  and  hurried  west- 
ward. A  few  days  earlier  Mrs.  Finch  had  come  to  Evans- 
ton  from  Nebraska  to  continue  her  studies  at  the  North- 
western University,  where  she  had  taken  a  thorough  course 
in  elocution  and  English  literature.  When  Mr.  Finch 
reached  Chicago  the  exhausted  strength  wholly  gave  way, 
and  he  was  barely  able  to  reach  Evanston,  only  twelve 
miles  away,  where  the  devoted  wife  was  waiting  for 
him. 

He  was  utterly  prostrated  by  his  work,  and  the  tension  of 
the  nerve  forces  could  not  but  relax.  Rheumatism  of  the 
heart  and  neuralgia,  in  his  already  feeble  condition,  came 
with  a  severity  he  had  never  experienced  before.  For 
many  days  he  was  unconscious,  his  pulse  grew  fainter,  and 
the  soul  seemed  struggling  to  break  its  moorings  of  mor- 
tality. Friends  said  :  "  He  cannot  live."  The  attending 
physicians  admitted  their  grave  apprehensions.  Dr.  Web- 
ster often  called  at  midnight,  always  finding  Mrs.  Finch  at 
her  post,  watching  every  motion  of  her  husband  and  striv- 
ing to  count  the  scarcely  perceptible  pulse. 

"  I  know  where  to  find  you,  Mrs.  Finch,"  he  often  re- 
marked. "  You  are  always  on  duty.  If  I  had  as  faithful 


326  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

a  nurse  for  each  of  my  patients  I  should  be  more  certain 
they  would  always  have  proper  care." 

One  night,  when  Mr.  Finch's  pulse  was  feeblest,  he  often 
reached  out  unconsciously  to  find  Mrs.  Finch,  restless  until 
her  hands  were  clasped  in  his,  when  he  would  become  quiet 
and  seem  satisfied. 

When  asked,  after  his  recovery,  if  he  realized  this  action 
and  remembered  his  feelings,  he  said  to  his  wife  : 

"  I  thought  that  I  was  going  away,  and  when  I  took 
your  hand  I  felt  more  secure." 

Dr.  Jutkins  called  one  day  while  the  scale  of  life  and 
death  seemed  evenly  balanced,  and  kissing  him  on  the  fore- 
head, knelt  in  silent  prayer.  Mr.  Finch  recognized  his 
visitor,  and  was  greatly  impressed  by  the  action,  often  re- 
calling it  afterward,  saying  it  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  pathetic  scenes  he  ever  witnessed. 

Daily  messages  were  sent  to  friends,  and  one  night  at 
two  o'clock  this  telegram  was  sent  by  Mrs.  Finch  : 

"  Mr.  Sibley,  we  may  need  you  at  any  moment.  Cancel 
your  appointments  and  be  prepared  to  come." 

The  order  was  obeyed,  but  the  crisis  was  safely  passed, 
and  the  brave,  struggling  soul  was  given  a  few  more  years 
to  do  its  appointed  work.  By  the  middle  of  May  he  was 
again  at  work,  determined  to  use  every  hour  of  life  left  to 
him  in  the  service  of  humanity. 

When  he  first  became  conscious,  after  the  crisis  was 
passed,  he  insisted  that  he  had  not  been  sick,  was  as  well 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B,  FINCH.  327 

as  lie  ever  had  been,  and  should  commence  making  his 
appointments  at  once. 

Devoutly  as  he  believed  in  the  Prohibition  Party  and  in 
Good  Templary  as  the  most  efficient  means  of  pushing  the 
reform  along  the  two  lines  of  moral  and  of  legal  suasion, 
he  was  so  broad  and  liberal  in  his  views  that  he  could  main- 
tain the  most  cordial  and  fraternal  relations  with  workers 
whose  ideals  differed  widely  from  his  own. 

The  destruction  of  the  liquor  traffic  was  the  end  to  be 
attained,  and  he  neither  lost  sight  of  that  aim  nor  allowed 
it  to  be  forgotten  by  others.  Temperance  societies,  lodges, 
associations,  and  party  organization  were  to  him  only  for- 
tresses where  loyal  hosts  were  to  be  disciplined  and  drilled 
for  constant  sorties  against  the  encompassing  legions  of  the 
rum  power. 

In  a  Good  Templar  address  at  the  Academy  of  Music  in 
Macon,  Ga.,  January  25th,  1887,  he  said  : 

"  The  purpose  of  the  Order  is  the  destruction  of  the  evils 
growing  out  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  Order  is  simply  a 
means  for  the  accomplishment  of  an  end.  We  are  Good 
Templars  because  we  desire  to  accomplish  a  certain  work 
and  to  overcome  a  certain  evil.  If  we  believed  that  there 
was  any  other  organization  better  adapted  to  accomplish 
this  work  than  Good  Templary,  then  we  should  regard  it  as 
our  duty  to  abandon  the  organization  which  we  are  leading 
and  work  to  build  up  the  better  one." 

In  patriotism  and  in  philanthropy  he  was  equally  cosmo- 


328  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

politan.  In  every  country  he  desired  to  see  stable  govern- 
ments, founded  upon  the  integrity  and  clean  manhood  of 
the  people.  In  every  land  he  hoped  for  impartial  justice 
to  man,  woman,  and  child.  He  had  profound  faith  that 
the  time  would  come 

"  When  the  lands  shall  join  hands,  and  the  hoarse  cannon  mutter 
Their  discords  no  more  to  the  children  of  men." 

He  planned  no  less  for  the  advancement  of  Good  Tem- 
plary  and  its  aims  in  Europe,  Africa,  or  New  Zealand  than 
in  his  native  land.  In  Canada  he  was  recognized  as  an 
efficient  worker  in  the  local  campaigns  for  the  suppression 
of  the  dram-shop. 

In  the  Canadian  provinces,  as  in  the  different  States  of 
his  own  country,  he  familiarized  himself  with  the  statutes 
and  municipal  ordinances,  and  was  able  to  discuss  local 
issues  with  the  best  posted  citizens. 

The  Canada  Citizen  voices  the  feeling  throughout  the 
Dominion  :  "  Canada  owes  to  both  his  tongue  and  pen  a 
heavy  debt  of  gratitude  for  valuable  aid  in  the  conflicts 
in  which  he  so  frequently  helped  us  to  carry  the  Scott 
Act  banner  to  glorious  victory.  His  name  was  a  household 
word  in  this  as  well  as  his  native  land. ' ' 

The  Home  Journal,  of  Des  Moines,  la.,  expresses  the 
universal  sentiment  when  it  says  : 

"  During  the  last  decade,  wherever  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance was  endangered,  there  was  found  John  B.  Finch, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  329 

striking  manfully  for  the  highest  and  best  interests  of 
society.  No  antagonist  ever  met  him  in  debate,  that  was 
not  worsted.  No  man  or  woman,  sorrowed  by  the  curse  of 
intemperance,  ever  appealed  to  Mr.  Finch  in  vain.  Where- 
ever  he  went,  with  him  went  joy  and  sunshine.  Sorrow 
was  lifted  in  his  presence,  and  sunlight  took  its  place." 

The  popularity  of  Mr.  Finch  in  the  Canadian  provinc 
was  equal  to  the  public  favor  he  enjoyed  at  home. 

In  1884  P.  J.  Chisholm,  then  Grand  Chief  Templar  of 
Nova  Scotia,  met  Mr.  Finch  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  and 
endeavored  to  arrange  with  him  for  a  trip  to  the  Maritime 
Provinces,  without  success,  his  time  being  so  fully  occu- 
pied. He  was  able,  however,  to  give  eleven  days  in  the 
month  of  February,  1885,  to  their  work. 

His  first  appointment  was  at  Amherst,  and  the  second  at 
Bass  River,  a  factory  town  sixteen  miles  from  the  railroad. 
The  morning  after  his  second  appointment  the  driver  of  the 
mail  stage  started  at  the  usual  hour  with  Mr.  Finch  for  the 
railway.  At  a  village  three  miles  from  the  station  the  driver 
learned  that  the  train  was  more  than  an  hour  late,  and  there- 
fore delayed  the  resumption  of  his  journey  for  that  length  of 
time,  arriving  at  the  railroad  ten  minutes  after  the  train 
had  departed. 

Mr.  Finch  then  inquired  of  the  station-master  : 
"  When  will  the  next  train  reach  Halifax  ?'* 
"  Not  before  8.30  or  9  this  evening,  and  probably  later, 
as  the  road  is  blocked  with  snow.'- 


330  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.    FINCH. 

This  would  be  too  late  for  the  lecture  which  was  an- 
nounced for  the  evening.  He  determined  to  reach  Halifax 
in  time. 

"  Can  I  get  a  special  for  Halifax  ?"  he  asked. 

11  Yes.     It  will  cost  you  eighty  dollars." 

"  I  didn't  ask  the  cost.     How  soon  can  it  be  ready  ?" 

"  Within  an  hour." 

"  "What  time  will  that  enable  me  to  reach  Halifax  ?" 

"  By  3  P.M.,  probably  sooner.  Not  more  than  an  hour 
behind  the  train  you  just  missed." 

"  Well,  get  your  special  around  here  as  quickly  as  you 
can." 

Telegrams  were  sent  the  superintendent,  orders  issued, 
and  in  the  specified  time  the  engine  and  one  coach  were 
ready  to  take  Mr.  Finch  to  his  appointment. 

Mr.  Chisholm  had  gone  to  Halifax  to  see  that  all  arrange- 
ments were  perfected  and  the  meeting  well  advertised,  as 
he  felt  the  importance  of  this  first  meeting  in  the  chief  city 
of  the  province. 

At  the  station  he  waited  the  coming  of  the  regular  train 
with  impatience,  which  changed  to  bitter  chagrin  and  dis- 
appointment when  it  arrived  without  the  one  passenger  in 
whom  he  felt  at  that  moment  the  most  absorbing  interest. 

As  he  was  turning  away  his  eye  caught  the  announce- 
ment on  a  bulletin  board  : 

"  Special  train  on  the  way  from  Truro." 

Hoping  that  by  some  fortunate  accident  Mr.  Finch  had 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH,  331 

caught  the  "  special,"  he  stepped  into  the  telegraph  office 
and  asked  : 

"  What  special  is  that  coming  from  Truro  ?" 

The  answer  surprised  and  overjoyed  him  : 

"  The  special  was  chartered  by  Hon.  John  B.  Finch,  the 
lecturer. " 

On  the  arrival  of  the  train  Mr.  Chisholm  greeted  the 
solitary  passenger  with  the  jocular  words  : . 

"  Are  not  our  regular  trains  good  enough  for  you  ?" 

"  You  did  not  suppose  I  was  coming  down  here  to  ride 
on  your  old,  slow,  regular  trains  when  specials  were  to  be 
had,  did  you  ?"  laughingly  answered  Mr.  Finch,  and  then 
proceeded  to  relate  the  circumstances. 

The  attendance  at  the  evening  meeting  was  not  large, 
but  all  present  were  held  spellbound  for  two  hours.  The 
morning  papers  contained  good  reports,  and  the  evening 
papers  announced  that  a  representative  of  the  liquor  inter- 
est would  ask  for  the  privilege  of  debating  with  him  at  the 
next  meeting. 

Hon.  J.  W.  Longley,  Attorney-General  of  Nova  Scotia, 
presided  and  introduced  Mr.  Finch  on  the  second  evening. 
No  one  appeared,  to  debate  with  him,  however,  and  at  the 
close  of  his  address  Mr.  Finch  said  : 

"  I  have  been  informed  that  some  man  representing  the 
liquor  interest  desired  to  debate  this  question  with  me.  It 
was  expected  that  he  would  announce  himself  here  to-night, 
and  I  would  have  cheerfully  divided  the  time  with  him. 


332  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Lest  there  may  have  been  a  misapprehension,  I  will  now 
announce  that  I  am  engaged  for  another  city  for  to-morrow 
evening,  but  if  the  opponents  of  temperance  desire  to 
oppose  me  or  the  cause  I  advocate,  I  will  cancel  my  ap- 
pointment and  meet  them  on  this  platform  to  discuss  the 
question  to-morrow  night,  provided  they  will  notify  me  of 
their  wishes  before  the  train  leaves  to-morrow  morning. " 

The  announcement  was  received  with  tremendous  ap- 
plause, but  this  challenge  met  no  response. 

Several  prominent  gentlemen  accompanied  Mr.  Finch  to 
his  room  after  the  lecture  and  were  chatting  with  him, 
when  a  reporter  sent  up  his  card. 

"  Show  him  up,"  was  Mr.  Finch's  easy  order. 

"  I  came  to  interview  you,"  remarked  the  news-gatherer 
upon  entering. 

' '  All  right, ' '  said  Mr.  Finch  ;  ' '  you  can  proceed,  if  you 
do  not  object  to  the  presence  of  my  friends." 

No  verbal  objections  were  made,  but  the  look  on  the 
reporter's  face  did  not  betray  great  satisfaction. 

After  an  hour  of  very  diligent  questioning  and  quick, 
clear-headed  replies  from  Mr.  Finch,  the  reporter  retired, 
thanking  him  for  his  patience  and  promising  that  the  Mon- 
day morning  Chronicle  should  contain  the  interview  in  full. 

When  the  interviewer  had  departed,  Mr.  Finch  turned  to 
the  gentlemen  who  had  been  listening  and  asked  : 

"  You  heard  what  that  fellow  said  about  this  interview 
appearing  in  the  morning  Chronicle  f " 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH,  333 

"Yes." 

"  Well,  mark  my  words,  not  one  line  of  it  will  ever 
appear. ' ' 

The  listeners  were  surprised  at  the  prediction,  but  it  was 
fulfilled  ;  no  mention  was  ever  made  of  the  interview  in 
the  columns  of  the  Chronicle. 

The  next  morning  a  number  of  leading  and  influential 
gentlemen  called  upon  him  and  expressed  the  desire  to  have 
him  address  the  people  once  more,  on  the  following  Sunday 
afternoon,  at  the  Academy  of  Music.  He  consented,  and 
the  announcement  was  made. 

Sunday  came,  and  Mr.  Finch  was  ready  for  his  meeting 
at  4  P.M.  Snow  had  been  falling  all  day  and  a  fierce  wind 
raged,  heaping  great  drifts  at  every  street  corner  and  cross- 
ing. Mr.  Finch  and  Mr.  Chisholm  were  looking  from  the 
window  at  the  storm,  when  the  hour  for  meeting  arrived. 
The  latter  remarked  : 

"  It  is  useless  to  go  to  the  Academy  of  Music  this  after- 
noon. No  one  can  face  this  storm." 

"  Did  you  not  announce  a  meeting  for  4  o'clock  ?" 
quickly  asked  Mr.  Finch. 

"  Yes,  but  we  did  not  anticipate  this  storm." 

"  Well,  I  am  going.  I  always  keep  my  engagements 
unless  I  am  too  sick  to  reach  the  place  appointed,"  said 
Mr.  Finch,  as  he  proceeded  to  make  preparations  to  start. 

Arrived  at  the  Academy,  both  were  surprised  to  find  the 
building  packed  with  people,  and  all  the  city  clergymen  on 


334  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  platform,  while  the  Mayor  waited  to  introduce  the 
speaker. 

He  won  a  warm  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Nova 
Scotia  on  his  first  visit,  and  on  his  return  for  twenty  days 
in  June  his  reception  was  most  cordial.  New  Brunswick 
and  Prince  Edward  Island  caught  the  spirit,  and  petitioned 
for  some  speeches  from  him,  which  he  gave  them  at  his 
earliest  opportunity,  aiding  them  in  several  of  their  contests 
under  the  Scott  Act,  the  Canada  local-option  law. 

In  Canada,  as  in  the  United  States,  his  work  everywhere 
revealed  his  incessant  eagerness  for  the  triumph  of  his 
cause. 

In  November  and  December,  1885,  Mr.  Finch  made  a 
tour  through  California,  to  fill  thirty-five  appointments 
made  for  him  by  Mr.  Katzenstien,  Grand  Secretary  of  the 
Good  Templars  of  that  State.  The  arrangements  were  so 
perfect  that  Mr.  Finch  greatly  enjoyed  the  trip.  The 
people  of  the  Pacific  coast  greeted  him  everywhere  with 
ovations. 

Of  his  address  at  Woodlawn,  the  Woodlawn  Mail  says  : 

"  Those  of  our  citizens  who  attended  the  Opera  House  yesterday  even- 
ing were  given  the  rarest  treat  known  to  men  and  women — a  strong, 
powerful  man,  active,  alert,  vigorous,  and  logical,  with  a  wonderful  com- 
mand of  language  and  a  rare  power  of  mimicry  and  delineation,  filled  to 
the  brim  with  an  earnest  consciousness  of  great  wrongs,  believing  that 
he  has  a  panacea  for  their  cure,  stating  the  wrongs  with  a  clearness  of 
delineation  that  brings  them  right  home  to  all  present,  and  advocating 
the  application  of  his  cure  with  a  powerful  persuasiveness. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  E.  FINCH.  335 

"  As  an  orator,  Mr.  Finch' s  reputation  preceding  him  has  in  no  way 
suffered  by  his  actual  appearance  before  our  public.  Some  of  the 
orator's  expressions  showed  a  most  wonderful  compression  of  thought, 
and  were  received  with  enthusiastic  applause.  All  present  were  pleased 
and  delighted  with  the  lecture,  and  a  regret  was  felt  that  such  forensic 
efforts  are  not  of  frequent  occurrence.' ' 

The  Auburn  Argus  says  : 

"  Hon.  John  B.  Finch,  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar,  lectured  in  the 
court-room  last  Friday  evening,  on  temperance,  to  a  large  and  very  at- 
tentive audience.  All  present  were  highly  edified  and  entertained,  not 
to  say  instructed.  Mr.  Finch  is  a  gentleman  who  can  interest  any  audi- 
ence— that  we  say  without  hesitation  ;  whether  the  audience  be  friendly 
or  hostile  to  his  views,  it  matters  not.  He  is  the  most  eloquent  temper- 
ance orator  we  have  heard.  His  audience  was  probably  the  largest  that 
has  ever  assembled  in  Auburn  to  hear  the  temperance  question  dis- 
cussed." 

The  Los  Angeles  Herald  of  December  27th  says  : 

"  Hon.  John  B.  Finch  delivered  his  first  lecture  in  Los  Angeles,  on  the 
subject  of  prohibition,  to  a  very  large  audience  in  the  Tabernacle  last 
night.  He  is  an  easy,  fluent  speaker,  full  of  anecdotes,  and  makes  strong 
points  for  his  peculiar  views.  The  audience  was  carried  away  by  Mr. 
Finch's  eloquence,  and  at  almost  every  sentence  the  applause  was  deaf- 
ening." 

The  Placer  Herald  has  the  following  : 

"  The  lecture  of  John  B.  Finch,  delivered  at  the  Court  House,  drew 
out  the  largest  audience  we  have  ever  seen  present  at  a  lecture  in  the 
town  ;  and  the  hearers  were  not  disappointed,  as  the  lecture  was  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  interesting  ever  delivered  here. " 

After  Mr.  Finch  had  completed  his  trip  through  the 


336  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

State,  the  Rescue  sums  up  the  work  in  the  following  forcible 
manner  : 

"  Our  distinguished  brother,  John  B.  Finch,  has  made  his  long-prom- 
ised, but  all  too  brief  visit  to  California,  and  the  general  feeling  may  be 
voiced  by  an  enthusiastic  friend,  who  writes  :  '  Mr.  Finch  came  and  has 
gone.  I  feel  as  if  a  comet  had  shot  across  my  mental  firmament.  Thank 
God,  we  were  privileged  to  secure  his  services.  All  our  people  are  just 
thundering  his  praises.' 

"  All  that  was  promised  in  his  behalf  has  been  fully  realized,  and 
wherever  he  spoke  the  universal  expression  is  that  never  were  more  pow- 
erful lectures  heard,  and  everywhere  he  went  he  left  the  people  thirsting 
for  more.  He  was  cordially  received  wherever  he  went,  and  whether 
his  hearers  agreed  with  him  or  not,  he  was  accorded  universal  praise  for 
the  powerful  presentation  of  his  theme.  The  press  throughout  the  State 
has  been  generous  in  its  treatment  of  him,  and  prominent  people  express 
themselves  in  no  less  complimentary  terms. 

"  One  correspondent  says  : 

"  '  When  Finch  undertakes  to  clean  house,  it  is  not  only  swept,  but  dust- 
ed as  well  ;  when  he  gets  through  no  one  can  longer  doubt.  He  is  one 
of  the  most  convincing  speakers  I  ever  heard.  He  never  aims  at  a  flour- 
ish, but  always  reasons  clearly  ;  he  is  really  master  of  his  subject.'  The 
prospect  of  the  return  of  Brother  Finch  to  this  coast  next  fall  will  be  wel- 
come news  to  all." 

Many  valuable  gifts  were  presented  him,  Good  Templars 
and  other  temperance  workers  vieing  with  each  other  in  the 
value,  beauty,  or  novelty  of  their  offerings,  among  the 
most  highly  prized  of  which  were  a  gold  nugget  brooch  for 
Mrs.  Finch,  a  blanket  of  the  quaint  and  excellent  workman- 
ship of  the  Navajo  Indians  of  Arizona,  and  a  book  of 
pressed  ferns  gathered  on  the  sea  islands. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  337 

A  magnificent  reception  was  tendered  him  at  San  Fran- 
cisco. Invitations  to  return  and  to  bring  his  family  were 
pressed  upon  him  from  every  point  visited,  and  were  em- 
phasized by  similar  requests  from  the  officers  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Good  Templars.  Upon  leaving  the  State  he 
promised  to  comply  with  these  requests  at  his  earliest 
opportunity.  The  good  wishes  of  the  California  people 
followed  him,  and  on  his  arrival  home  he  found  substantial 
evidence  of  it  in  a  large  supply  of  the  choicest  collections 
of  fruits,  which  had  been  shipped  by  friends  on  the  coast. 
His  impressions  of  the  State  are  outlined  in  the  following 
extracts  from  letters  written  to  Mrs.  Finch  during  his 
sojourn. 

One  interesting  letter,  describing  his  trip  through  the 
Territories  is  particularly  interesting,  and  characteristic  of 
his  appreciation  of  beautiful  scenery  : 

"  ON  TBAIN  RUNNING  DOWN  GEEEN  RIVEB,  W.  T., 
November  10,  1885. 

"  I  left  Omaha  Sunday  evening.  The  trip  yesterday  was  mostly  over 
familiar  ground,  though  it  has  changed  much  in  the  last  four  years. 
The  cattle  ranches  of  Western  Nebraska  are  largely  fenced  with  barbed 
wire,  and  little  villages  have  sprung  up  all  along  the  line.  The  party  on 
our  sleeper  number  fourteen,  with  one  fat,  chubby  baby. 

"  About  5  P.M.  we  obtained  a  glimpse  of  Long's  Peak,  in  Northern 
Colorado,  which  was  the  only  view  of  mountain  scenery  we  had,  as  night 
settled  down  upon  us  as  we  were  climbing  the  grade  to  Cheyenne. 
From  Cheyenne  the  ascent  to  the  summit  is  difficult.  We  arrived  at 
Sherman,  which  is  on  the  top  of  the  Eocky  Mountains,  at  8.10  P.M.  This 


338  fHE  LIPS  OF  JO&N  B.  FlNCti. 

morning,  when  I  awoke  at  6.30,  we  were  on  the  Bitterwater  Creek,  be- 
yond the  Laramie  Plains.  This  is  a  terribly  dreary  waste.  Sagebrush, 
greasewood  rabbits,  and  rattlesnakes  is  all  the  country  produces  or  ever 
will  produce.  An  old  miner  here  was  asked  for  what  purpose  God  made 
this  country,  and  he  answered,  '  To  hold  the  rest  of  the  world  together. ' 
"The  trip  down  the  Green  Valley  is  grand — high  bluffs,  towering 
rocks,  and  distant  mountains  covered  with  snow. ' ' 

From  Auburn,  Cal.,  under  date  of  November  27th,  Mr. 
Finch  writes  : 

"  The  climate  of  California  at  this  season,  which  is  the  '  rainy  season,' 
is  not  one  to  impress  an  Eastern  visitor  favorably. 

"  It  rained  steadily  from  last  Friday  to  Thursday  of  this  week.  Oh, 
such  rain  !  it  was  a  horridly  '  wet '  rain. 

"  On  Tuesday  I  left  Sacramento  for  Dutch  Flat,  a  mountain  town 
ninety  miles  from  Sacramento  and  four  thousand  feet  up  in  the  Sierras. 
The  Flat  is  above  the  snow  line,  and  the  change  from  the  warm  rain  of 
the  valley  to  the  snow  storms  of  the  mountains,  in  four  hours,  was  not 
a  very  pleasant  experience.  Yet  I  enjoyed  the  trip  very  much.  I  vis- 
ited all  the  great  Placer  mines,  and  studied  hydraulic  mining  in  all  its 
details. 

"  Yesterday  I  went  with  a  gentleman  to  the  top  of  Moody  Eidge,  to 
see  the  great  canon  of  the  North  Fork  of  the  American  Elver.  I  wish 
you  could  have  been  with  me,  as  it  is  impossible  to  describe  the  wonder- 
ful scene.  Imagine,  if  you  can,  standing  on  a  rock  and  looking  down 
two  thousand  feet  into  a  boiling,  foaming  river  !  The  view  was  grand. 
The  only  thing  to  mar  the  pleasure  was  your  absence,  but  I  promised 
Mrs.  Frost  to  come  again  and  bring  you. " 

The  kind  of  work  mattered  not  to  him.  "Whether  ad- 
dressing erudite  audiences  in  the  centres  of  culture,  or 
humble  dwellers  of  the  far  frontier,  talking  amid  the  hurry- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  339 

ing  life  of  the  great  cities  or  in  the  calm  of  the  quiet  coun- 
try, he  gave  the  best  of  his  brain  and  strength  to  the  work. 
The  words  of  Bishop  Heber  seemed  to  be  the  rallying  cry 
of  his  restless  soul  : 

"  Then  on  !  then  on  .'  where  duty  leads, 
My  course  be  onward  still." 


CHAPTER   XI. 

TEMPERANCE    LITERATURE. 

There  is,  first,  the  literature  of  knowledge  ;  and  secondly,  the  liter- 
ature of  power.  The  function  of  the  first  is  to  teach  ;  the  function  of 
the  second  is  to  move  ;  the  first  is  a  rudder,  the  second  an  oar  or  a  sail. 
The  first  speaks  to  the  mere  discursive  understanding  ;  the  second 
speaks  ultimately,  it  may  happen,  to  the  higher  understanding  or 
reason. — De  Quincey. 

~|V  /f~R.  FINCH  was  always  an  ardent  devotee  at  the 
-•-*-*•  shrine  of  literature.  In  all  the  wide  range  of  books 
and  periodicals  he  absolutely  rejected  nothing.  From  the 
lightest  work  of  fiction  to  the  most  profound  exegesis,  he 
would  thread  his  way,  culling  good  from  all.  He  was  a 
student  always.  Political  economy  was  his  favorite  study 
in  later  years.  Every  prominent  authority  on  this  subject 
was  diligently  consulted,  and  his  volumes  of  Lieber,  Mill, 
and  other  authors,  bear  marginal  marks  indicating  his  close 
and  thoughtful  study  of  the  great  writers.  In  his  copious 
annotations  he  sometimes  cordially  approves  the  author's 
position,  strengthening  it  by  a  vigorous  sentence  or  two, 
and  in  other  places  he  unhesitatingly  criticises  the  theories 
advanced,  and  mercilessly  scores  the  great  political  econo- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  341 

mists  who  have  offered  mistaken  solutions  of  some  problems 
of  government. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  temperance  work  he  recog- 
nized the  necessity  of  an  extensive  circulation  of  temper- 
ance newspapers  and  books.  As  will  be  seen  by  a  perusal 
of  his  speeches,  he  had  strong  confidence  in  .  the  potent 
influence  for  good,  of  education  in  the  proper  channels. 
He  began  to  use  the  press  as  a  medium  of  communication 
of  his  ideas  and  views  to  the  public  as  early  as  the  rostrum, 
or  even  earlier. 

"While  engaged  as  a  teacher  he  contributed  several  temper- 
ance letters  to  local  newspapers,  and  in  1875,  through  the 
columns  of  the  Marathon  Independent,  conducted  a  vigor- 
ous discussion  on  the  justice  and  righteousness  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  prohibition. 

In  1876  he  became  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Temperance 
Investigator,  published  at  Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.  He  made 
a  strong  endeavor  to  obtain  for  this  paper  a  large  circula- 
tion, and  to  make  it  a  valuable  educational  influence  in 
Central  New  York. 

In  Nebraska  he  endeavored  to  build  up  the  Western 
World  and  the  Lincoln  Tribune,  giving  both  time  and 
money  to  their  aid,  and  contributing  many  valuable  letters 
for  publication.  He  was  among  the  first  to  arrange  a  com- 
prehensive plan  for  supplying  the  clergymen  of  the  country 
with  temperance  books  and  papers.  He  donated  a  year's 
subscription  to  the  Lincoln  Weekly  Tribune  to  every 


342  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  8.  FINCH. 

clergyman  who  would  send  his  name  to  the  office  of  the 
paper. 

The  national  temperance  newspapers  found  him  a  warm 
friend,  who  never  failed  to  urge  the  attention  of  the  people 
to  their  claims.  He  desired  that  all  of  them  should  prosper 
and  secure  an  extensive  circulation. 

He  knew  that  his  own  speeches  made  a  marked  impres- 
sion on  the  popular  mind,  and  he  regretted  that  he  could 
not  reach  a  wider  audience.  Encouraged  by  friends,  he 
determined  to  gather  his  addresses  into  one  volume,  and 
send  it  out  to  the  world. 

Dr.  A.  J.  Jutkins,  who  was  put  in  charge  of  the  work 
of  distribution  of  the  earlier  editions  of  "  The  People 
vs.  the  Liquor  Traffic,"  explains  his  connection  with  the 
book  : 

"  During  the  autumn  of  1882,  Mr.  Finch  became  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  a  literary  propaganda  in  the  interest  of  prohibition,  and 
also  that  the  time  had  come  for  an  effort  in  that  direction.  He  confer- 
red with  Samuel  D.  Hastings,  and  the  plans  were  adopted.  Mr.  Finch 
believed  that  if  first-class  prohibition  literature  were  printed  in  an  at- 
tractive form,  a  market  would  be  found  for  it  among  temperance  people. 
On  February  12th,  1883,  he  asked  me  to  attend  to  the  sale  of  his 
book,  '  The  People  vs.  the  Liquor  Traffic.'  It  came  from  the  press  Feb- 
ruary 27th.  A  correspondence  had  been  in  progress  with  prominent 
Good  Templars,  and  a  very  gratifying  interest  was  manifested  in  the 
volume.  Its  extraordinary  ability  was  evident  to  all.  So  completely 
does  it  cover  the  ground  of  controversy  that  very  little  that  is  new  has 
been  added  to  what  these  lectures  present.  New  illustrations  and  forms 
of  presentation  have  been  plentiful,  but  about  all  the  argument  may  be 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  343 

found  here.  Any  man  who  masters  this  volume  will  be  prepared  to 
appreciate  the  prohibition  contention. 

"  About  twenty  thousand  copies  of  the  book  were  circulated  during 
the  period  from  April  1st,  1883,  to  the  present.  Some  were  sold  at  re- 
tail, more  at  wholesale,  to  persons  acting  as  agents  ;  but  the  most  were 
sold  in  lots  of  a  thousand  at  bare  cost  to  grand  lodges.  Many  were 
given  away.  Doubtless  the  main  purpose— that  of  teaching  the  truth  on 
this  question — was  achieved,  but  the  cost  of  getting  the  book  into  the 
hands  of  readers  was  too  great  in  proportion  to  the  price  received,  and 
the  enterprise  did  not  support  itself  financially  so  as  to  justify  con- 
tinued effort. 

"  An  edition  of  the  volume  was  issued  in  Canada  from  revised  plates, 
but  I  am  not  advised  as  to.  the  details  of  the  effort. 

' '  During  the  year  1887  Mr.  Finch  made  another  revision  of  the  plates, 
and  the  book  has  been  printed  by  J.  N.  Stearns,  of  58  Eeade  Street,  New 
York,  and  circulated  quite  extensively  among  Good  Templars.  This 
circulation  is  now  in  progress,  and  promises  to  become  quite  extensive, 
an  impulse  having  been  given  by  the  fact  of  his  death." 

Mr.  Finch  never  asked,  desired,  or  received  any  royalty 
from  the  publication  of  his  speeches.  He  freely  gave 
copies  to  persons  and  localities  otherwise  unable  to  procure 
them.  Several  large  free  distributions  of  the  book  were 
made  in  States  from  whence  strong  appeals  came  for  copies 
to  be  used  as  campaign  documents.  Toward  the  expense 
of  this  distribution  he  always  contributed  liberally,  glad  to 
put  the  work  in  the  hands  of  men  who  would  give  its 
propositions  careful  perusal  and  thought. 

"  Educate  the  people  in  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  reform  and  they  will  vote  right  and  act  right,' '  Mr. 


344  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Finch  often  repeated.  As  the  originator  of  the  pians  for  a 
standing  Committee  on  Literature  in  the  Eight  Worthy 
Grand  Lodge,  and  for  several  years  chairman  of  that  com- 
mittee, he  set  in  motion  the  forces  which  will  make  Good 
Templary  one  of  the  most  thorough  temperance  schools 
ever  established. 

While  acting  at  the  head  of  this  Literature  Committee, 
he  made  out  a  list  of  the  best  publications  of  the  National 
Temperance  Society,  and  urged  the  membership  to  buy, 
read,  study,  and  circulate  the  books. 

He  planned  a  Good  Templar  Chautauqua,  and  with  the 
aid  of  other  talented  members,  outlined  a  course  of  study 
which  should  teach  temperance  from  the  alphabet  of  the 
reform,  all  the  way  to  the  higher  science  and  newest  dis- 
covery. 

He  had  nearly  perfected  plans  for  a  great  international 
Good  Templar  periodical,  which  should  contain  the  weekly 
lessons  of  the  "  course  of  study"  and  other  matter  of  inter- 
est to  the  Order.  He  designed  to  commence  the  publica- 
tion with  the  new  year.  This  journal  he  had  determined 
to  make  a  model  of  bright,  newsy,  instructive,  "  up-to-the- 
times"  literature. 

John  N.  Stearns,  the  energetic  Secretary  of  the  National 
Temperance  Society,  gives  his  views  concerning  Mr. 
Finch's  relation  to  temperance  literature  in  the  following 
letter  : 

"  Probably  no  man  in  this  country  had  as  clear  and  correct  an  estimate 


TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  345 

of  the  curse  and  crime  of  liquor  drinking  and  selling,  and  the  steps  and 
measures  necessary  to  be  taken  for  its  destruction,  as  John  B.  Finch. 
From  my  first  acquaintance  with  him  till  his  death  he  always  emphasized 
the  great  value  and  importance  of  an  intelligent  conviction  on  the  part 
of  the  people  that  the  drink  was  bad  and  the  traffic  evil,  and  only  evil, 
and  that  continually. 

"  For  many  years  he  was  a  vice-president  of  the  National  Temperance 
Society,  and  took  great  interest  in  its  educational  work.  He  rightly 
estimated  the  value  and  importance  of  its  non-partisan  work  as  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  creation  of  a  right  public  sentiment  among  all 
classes  of  the  community,  a  majority  of  which  we  must  convince  and 
convert,  before  our  cause  can  triumph.  At  my  last  interview  with  him 
he  dwelt  more  largely  on  the  educational  work,  and  I  shall  never  forget 
how  he  said,  '  I  feel  like  leaving  all  my  other  fields  of  labor  and  throw- 
ing all  my  life  into  the  educational  forces,  which  shall  yet  redeem  this 
country.'  In  November,  1880,  writing  from  Lincoln,  Neb.,  he  said  he 
desired  to  begin  the  work  in  that  State  on  a  solid  basis,  and  wrote, 
'  Send  me  one  hundred  copies  of  "  Our  Wasted  Resources,"  two  hun- 
dred "  Prohibitionists'  Text-Book,"  and  five  hundred  copies  of  Pitman's 
"  Alcohol  and  the  State."  '  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  mighty  work  in 
that  State.  '  Load  up,'  he  said  to  an  immense  audience  at  Silver  Lake 
Assembly  last  summer,  pointing  to  the  books  of  the  National  Temper- 
ance Society,  '  that  you  may  be  able  to  meet  and  answer  the  sophistries 
and  arguments  of  your  opponents.'  And  they  loaded  up. 

"  He  read  every  temperance  book  and  document  that  he  could  find,  so 
that  from  the  rich  storehouse  of  his  mind  he  could  '  draw  things  new 
and  old,'  as  they  were  needed.  He  arranged  to  send  the  '  Catechism  on 
Alcohol '  and  other  similar  literature  to  every  juvenile  temple  in  this 
land  free  of  charge,  as  an  incentive  and  example  for  future  work.  He 
planned  a  '  course  of  study '  for  every  Good  Templar,  so  that  in  three 
years  they  could  go  through  every  phase  of  the  question,  and  be  fully 
'  rooted  and  grounded  '  in  the  faith.  He  had  plans  for  every  Grand  and 


346  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

District  Lodge  of  Good  Templars  to  take  more  earnest  and  systematic 
hold  of  the  circulation  of  a  sound  temperance  literature  among  the  mem- 
bers, and  had  just  commenced  with  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  where  the 
Order  heartily  co-operated  with  him,  and  have  circulated  some  seven 
thousand  copies  of  the  book  of  eleven  speeches  of  Mr.  Finch  entitled 
'  The  People  vs.  the  Liquor  Traffic.'  Every  State  would  do  a  good 
work  for  itself  if  it  should  follow  the  example.  A  book  might  be  writ- 
ten of  his  thoughts  and  work  on  this  line,  but  space  forbids.  He  walks 
and  talks  no  more  on  the  earth,  but  his  '  works  do  follow  him.'  May 
there  be  a  multitude  raised  up  who  shall  take  up  his  life-work  where 
he  left  it  all  too  soon,  and  carry  it  on  to  a  permanent  and  triumphant 
success." 

The  public  work  done  by  Mr.  Finch,  together  with  the 
large  correspondence  carried  on  by  him,  would  have 
seemed  sufficient  to  have  occupied  all  his  waking  hours. 
Beyond  this,  however,  he  accomplished  a  vast  amount  of 
labor,  of  which  little  was  known,  even  by  his  most  intimate 
friends.  This  consisted  in  the  preparation  of  innumerable 
newspaper  paragraphs,  furnished  to  most  of  the  temperance 
and  many  of  the  political  journals  of  the  country.  These 
appeared  without  his  signature,  often  in  the  editorial 
columns. 

Whenever  he  passed  a  day  in  any  city  where  the  local 
press  attacked  the  temperance  work  or  the  workers  and 
their  methods,  he  quickly  wrote  a  keen,  concise,  and  some- 
times scathing  review  of  the  editorial  or  correspondence  and 
quietly  furnished  it  for  publication  in  some  local  newspaper 
willing  to  insert  it  and  defend  the  cause  of  temperance. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  347 

When  some  great  public  event  bearing  directly  or  re- 
motely upon  the  question  of  prohibition  was  being  widely 
discussed,  he  would  prepare  several  strong  papers  on  the 
topic,  showing  its  relations  to  the  suppression  of  the  liquor 
evil,  and  send  these  to  as  many  temperance  journals  as 
could  use  them  to  the  advantage  of  the  work. 

He  had  an  agreement  with  some  of  the  great  daily  news- 
papers of  New  York,  Chicago,  and  other  cities  to  furnish 
occasional  letters  delineating  the  conditions  and  progress  of 
the  work  in  the  various  States  he  visited. 

No  estimate  can  be  formed  of  the  aggregate  amount  of 
this  kind  of  literary  labor  in  the  interest  of  prohibition 
which  he  performed,  but  from  the  little  data  at  hand  it 
would  seem  to  have  been  surprisingly  large. 

The  following  letter  from  Walter  Thomas  Mills,  Secre- 
tary of  the  National  Intercollegiate  Prohibition  Association, 
adds  to  the  evidence  of  the  earnest  desire  of  Mr.  Finch  to 
push  prohibition  work  along  the  broadest  educational 
lines  : 

"  My  first  acquaintance  with  John  B.  Finch,  other  than  a  passing  in- 
troduction, was  when  in  1884  I  had  been  made  the  subject  of  a  malicious 
arrest,  because  I  had  driven  a  midnight  mob  from  my  home.  Promptly 
came  from  Finch  to  my  wife  the  following  :  '  If  Mr.  Mills  is  indicted  I 
will  defend  him  before  the  court  without  money  and  without  price.' 
The  arrest  came  to  nothing,  but  this  note  led  to  a  fast  personal  friendship. 

"  Again,  when  the  college  work  in  the  interest  of  prohibition  was 
placed  in  my  hands,  I  found  no  more  valued  adviser  or  faithful  helper 
than  Mr.  Finch.  The  plan  of  organization,  the  course  of  reading  foy 


348  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  American  School  of  Politics,  the  series  of  contests,  and  the  journal 
devoted  to  its  interests  were  all  subjects  of  frequent  and  helpful  corre- 
spondence, or  of  personal  consultation  with  him.  His  unselfish  interest 
was  well  illustrated  by  a  reply  he  made  to  a  suggestion  of  mine — '  No,' 
don't  put  my  name  in  your  list  of  officers.  Put  the  names  of  men  widely 
known  as  educators  to  the  front,  but  call  on  nie  for  quiet  help  whenever 
there  is  need.'  And  he  was  as  good  as  his  word.  At  different  times  he 
divided  responsibilities  with  me  in  the  work  amounting  to  several  hun 
dred  dollars. 

"  Finch  had  the  greatest  hope  for  good  results  from  the  course  of 
reading  in  politics.  He  was  a  thorough  believer  in  the  doctrine  that  to 
advance  a  reform  you  must  train  up  reformers,  especially  from  the  ranks 
of  educated  young  men." 

Dr.  Abbie  A.  Hinkle  comments  on  the  thorough  educa- 
tion of  Mr.  Finch  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  his  work  : 

"  Our  dear  brother  and  worthy  leader  was  a  scholar  in 
the  broadest  sense  of  the  term.  He  stopped  not  at  the  sur- 
face, but  penetrated  into  the  depth  of  matters  as  time  and 
circumstances  would  allow.  He  beautified  and  enriched  his 
mind  by  a  variety  of  useful  information. 

' '  He  acquired  a  general,  practical  knowledge  of  most  of 
the  sciences,  including  medicine.  His  knowledge  of  anat- 
omy, physiology,  materia  medica,  and  therapeutics  proved 
happily  useful  in  his  valuable  life-work  in  the  temperance 
reform. 

"  He  had  a  strong  memory,  and  gave  himself  up  to  large 
and  laborious  reading,  realizing  that  one  science  assists 
another  by  illustration  and  proof. " 


CHAPTER  XII. 

POLITICAL  LEADERSHIP. 

A  nature  wise 

With  finding  in  itself  the  types  of  all— 
With  watching  from  the  dim  verge  of  the  time, 
What  things  to  be  are  visible  in  the  gleams 
Thrown  forward  on  them  from  the  luminous  past — 
Wise  with  the  history  of  its  own  frail  heart, 
With  reverence  and  with  sorrow,  and  with  love, 
Broad  as  the  world,  for  freedom  and  for  men. 

Lowell. 

Such  souls, 

Whose  sudden  visitations  daze  the  world, 
Vanish  like  lightning,  but  they  leave  behind 
A  voice  that  in  the  distance  far  away 

Wakens  the  slumbering  ages. 

Henry  Taylor. 

A  LTHOUGII  lie  was  reared  in  a  strongly  Republican 
-^--*-  family,  Mr.  Finch's  earliest  political  predilections 
were  for  the  Democratic  Party,  but  his  allegiance  to  that 
party  was  never  very  strong. 

In  1877  he  was  a  regular  delegate  from  Cortland  County 
to  the  Prohibition  Party  State  Convention  which  met  at 
Utica,  N.  Y.,  August  15th.  He  was  made  chairman. of 


350  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  Committee  on  Nominations,  and  took  an  active  part  in 
the  deliberations  of  the  convention. 

Later  in  the  same  month  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the 
convention  of  the  Prohibition  Party  in  his  own  county,  and 
often  expressed  his  conviction  of  the  hopelessness  of  relief 
from  the  evils  of  the  rum-shop  through  old  political  organ- 
izations. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Nebraska  the  attention  of  the 
temperance  world  began  to  be  concentrated  on  the  consti- 
tutional amendment  plan  of  securing  prohibition  through 
the  old  political  parties.  Misled  by  the  hope  that  this  new 
experiment  would  prove  successful,  he  made  no  attempt  to 
establish  the  Prohibition  Party  in  that  State. 

For  three  years  after  becoming  a  citizen  of  Nebraska,  he 
proclaimed  himself  a  Democrat,  and  voted  that  ticket 
whenever  he  was  at  home  on  election  day.  Although  he 
took  no  very  active  part  in  politics,  he  became  quite  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  Democratic  leaders,  who  looked 
upon  him  as  a  rising  young  man  and  marked  him  for  ad- 
vancement. It  was  intimated  to  him  at  different  times  that 
he  might  receive  the  nomination  for  important  offices  if  he 
would  indicate  to  Democratic  managers  his  willingness  to 
accept.  This  he  never  expressed  nor  felt.  He  far  pre- 
ferred his  independent  position  as  a  private  citizen,  to  any 
honors  that  a  political  party  or  civil  office  could  confer. 

In  1882,  the  fourth  year  of  Mr.  Finch's  residence  in 
Nebraska,  the  Democratic  nominee  for  Governor  was 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  351 

J.  Sterling  Morton,  a  gentleman  with  whom  he  was  well 
acquainted  and  on  most  friendly  terms.  The  Democratic 
platform  had  squarely  declared  against  "  sumptuary"  laws. 
Mr.  Morton  in  his  speeches  gave  the  usual  interpretation 
to  this  "plank,"  that  it  meant  "no  prohibition,  no  sub- 
mission of  prohibitory  amendments." 

Mr.  Morton  made  a  speech  in  the  city  of  Lincoln,  early 
in  the  campaign,  in  which  he  savagely  attacked  the  prin- 
ciple of  prohibition  and  ridiculed  its  projectors  and  de- 
fenders. 

Mr.  Finch  at  once  wrote  a  challenge,  which  appeared  in 
the  daily  papers  the  next  morning,  asking  Mr.  Morton  to 
meet  him  in  joint  debate  and  defend  the  position  he  had 
assumed  the  previous  evening,  and  declaring  that  such  an 
attitude  toward  temperance  legislation  was  un-Democratic 
and  un-American. 

To  this  challenge  Mr.  Morton  replied,  through  the  press, 
declining  to  meet  Mr.  Finch,  and  offering  the  flimsy  excuse 
that  Democrats  should  only  discuss  the  issues  of  the  hour 
with  Republicans,  and  not  with  members  of  their  own 
party. 

Finding  no  opportunity  was  to  be  given  him  to  meet  the 
candidate  in  joint  discussion,  Mr.  Finch  ascertained  the 
dates  and  places  where  Mr.  Morton  was  to  address  the 
people,  and  made  arrangements  to  follow  immediately  after 
him,  and  publicly  expose  the  fallacies  of  his  reasoning. 

As  is  usually  the  case,  the  wily  politicians  of  the  old 


352  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

political  parties  had  nominated  a  few  men  on  each  ticket 
who  might  be  deemed  acceptable  to  the  moral  and  temper- 
ance elements  in  their  respective  parties. 

The  Democrats  had  in  Mr.  Morton  a  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor of  irreproachable  character,  who  nevertheless  was 
willing  to  prostitute  his  convictions  to  the  furtherance  of 
his  political  ambitions.  As  a  sort  of  nice  balance  between 
decency  and  shameless  submission  to  their  rum  rulers,  they 
had  nominated  a  most  ardent  and  outspoken  friend  of  pro- 
hibition for  the  office  of  Lieutenant-Governor. 

The  Republicans  nominated  a  man  for  Governor  who 
was  supposed  to  be  friendly  to  measures  for  the  submission 
of  a  prohibitory  amendment,  and  whose  profound  silence 
concerning  the  question,  before  and  after  his  nomination, 
left  the  public  to  believe  whatever  suited  them  best.  To 
offset  the  effect  of  this  nomination  they  selected  as  candi- 
date for  Lieutenant-Governor  an  open  and  pronounced 
friend  of  the  saloons. 

This  was  the  last  election  at  which  Mr.  Finch  ever  voted 
for  any  candidate  of  either  the  Republican  or  Democratic 
parties.  He  gave  his  ballot  for  the  Republican  candidate 
for  Governor,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Lieutenant- 
Governor,  and  left  the  greater  part  of  the  remainder  of  the 
ticket  blank. 

On  his  way  to  the  polling-place  he  said  to  Mr.  Sibley  : 

"  Frank,  you  were  right  in  1877.  There  is  no  hope  for 
our  cause  from  either  of  the  old  political  parties.  After 


NATIONAL   PROHIBITION   EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  355 

this  year  I  shall  take  up  the  Prohibition  Party  work,  and 
we  must  push  it  as  it  has  never  been  pushed  before,  till  it 
wins  ;  and  it  will,  it  must  win." 

Although  he  held  no  official  position  in  the  Prohibition 
Party,  and  probably  had  never  thought  of  accepting  any, 
he  began  early  in  1884  to  write  long  letters  to  personal 
friends  throughout  the  Union,  urging  them  to  organize  for 
the  campaign. 

In  the  Pittsburg  Convention  he  was  a  master  spirit,  and 
when  the  National  Committee  was  formed,  it  seemed  that 
every  eye  turned  toward  him  as  the  man  most  fit  for  the 
leadership  of  the  campaign  and  for  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee. 

Professor  A.  A.  Hopkins,  who  was  associated  with  him 
on  the  National  Executive  Committee,  gives  his  estimate 
of  Mr.  Finch  as  a  political  leader  : 

"  To  the  making  of  a  successful  politician  there  is  essential  a  peculiar 
combination  of  qualities.  Foresight,  insight,  will,  tact,  coolness,  cour- 
age, good-fellowship,  adaptiveness — these  are  some  of  the  characteristics 
necessary  if  one  would  become  a  political  leader,  control  his  partisans, 
and  win  for  the  principle  or  the  policy  they  espouse.  All  these  qualities 
John  B.  Finch  possessed,  and  some  of  them  in  a  marked  degree.  His 
foresight  was  keen  and  far-reaching.  He  saw  the  vantage  ground  from 
a  greater  distance  than  those  about  him.  He  had  the  will  to  seize  and 
occupy  it,  with  sufficient  tact  and  courage  to  accomplish  the  desired  end. 

"  Mr.  Finch  watched  the  movements  of  other  parties  with  sagacious 
care.  He  did  not  believe  in  trusting  all  to  Providence.  He  considered 
it  his  duty  to  know  what  opposing  leaders  were  doing,  what  they  were 
getting  ready  to  do.  He  diligently  studied  their  personality,  sought  reli- 


356  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

able  knowledge  of  their  places,  kept  open  avenues  of  information  in 
every  way  at  his  command.  His  good-fellowship  aided  him  much  in 
this  regard.  Leading  Democrats  and  Republicans  liked  him,  and  often 
paid  unconscious  tribute  to  his  companionable  geniality  through  hints 
he  swiftly  caught  and  turned  to  quick  account.  He  cultivated  their 
acquaintance,  while  wearing  an  air  of  independent  unconcern.  He  made 
them  serve  him  often  when  they  knew  it  not. 

"It  was  Mr.  Finch's  conviction  that  a  new  political  party  should  as 
soon  as  possible  make  itself  a  felt  factor  in  the  political  situation.  A 
reformer,  merely,  with  but  the  reformer's  instincts  and  ambitions,  would 
have  builded  for  his  reform's  future  without  studying  present  effects. 
John  B.  Finch  saw  that  prohibition's  future  must  take  shape  much  as 
determined  by  the  results  of  contention  to-day.  He  was  a  reformer, 
plus  a  politician.  As  a  politician  he  pushed  this  reform  with  an  eye 
fixed  on  the  effects.  He  did  it  far-seeingly,  effectively,  but  not  cor- 
ruptly. That  he  rejoiced  over  Elaine's  defeat  in  New  York  was  no 
doubt  a  fact  ;  but  not  for  the  reason  that  Democracy  had  won.  For  the 
Democratic  Party  he  had  no  care,  except  in  turn  to  beat  it,  or  assist  in 
beating  it,  as  the  sworn  supporter  of  the  saloon.  But  to  make  itself  felt, 
the  young  Prohibition  Party  must  be  instrumental  in  defeating  some- 
thing, and  the  Republican  Party  stood  fairly  in  its  way.  When  beaten, 
that  party  vented  its  anger  upon  Governor  St.  John,  and  spent  its  vin- 
dictiveness  upon  Prohibitionists  at  large.  Its  entire  course,  for  a  year 
afterward,  was  such  as  to  establish  the  Prohibition  Party  as  a  recognized 
factor  in  national  politics,  and  to  vindicate  Mr.  Finch's  political  sagac- 
ity. Had  Mr.  Elaine  carried  New  York,  prohibition  would  have  been 
laughed  at,  as  was  the  George  movement  after  last  year's  election,  and 
by  no  possibility  could  it  have  occupied  public  attention  and  .com- 
manded public  respect  as  it  has  for  three  years  past. 

"  It  remains  to  be  said  that  while  Mr.  Finch's  opponents  recognized 
and  feared  his  abilities  as  a  political  leader,  his  own  followers  had  con- 
fidence in  these,  and  trusted  to  his  leadership.  His  will,  his  tact,  his 


LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCS.  357 

courage,  his  companionship  made  powerful  impression  upon  all.  In  all 
the  States  where  our  party  is  to-day  the  strongest,  his  counsel,  his  direc- 
tion, were  most  eagerly  sought.  He  had  a  keen  sense  of  political  perspec- 
tive. He  saw  at  a  glance  the  relation  of  political  things.  Mentally  alert, 
he  could  act  with  sure  precision  in  an  emergency.  He  had  undoubting 
confidence  in  himself.  If  his  insight  were  not  equal  to  his  foresight — 
and  as  to  this  I  am  not  certain — his  intuition,  a  twin  quality,  was  rarely 
at  fault,  and  uniformly  served  him  well.  He  did  not  always  care  to  ex- 
ercise the  tact  he  had,  but  it  seldom  failed  him  when  called  actively  into 
play. 

"  As  a  political  leader,  Mr.  Finch  was  barely  becoming  familiar  with 
his  own  great  resources,  when  he  went  down  at  the  front.  What  he 
would  have  achieved*,  and  how  great  our  loss  in  losing  him,  speculation 
cannot  make  plain.  He  was  ambitious  for  a  great  principle,  ambitious 
to  build  a  party  which  could  and  should  establish  that  principle  in  gov- 
ernment. Toward  this  end  he  did  much — more,  it  may  be,  than  even 
we  can  measure  who  knew  him  best  and  stood  closest  by  his  side. 
That  he  would  have  done  far  greater  things  no  man  can  doubt  whose 
contact  with  him  was  that  of  trusting  intimacy.  He  had  all  essential 
qualities  ;  if  only  he  could  have  been  granted  another  decade  of  oppor- 
tunity, how  might  his  friends  have  marvelled  and  their  foes  have  grown 
amazed !" 

Eugene  H.  Clapp,  of  Boston,  Most  "Worthy  Patriarch  of 
the  Sons  of  Temperance  of  North  America,  alludes  to  the 
Pittsburg  Convention  in  the  following  tribute  : 

"  My  intimate  acquaintance  with  Hon.  John  B.  Finch  began  before 
the  Prohibition  Convention  at  Pittsburg,  in  1884.  At  that  time  we  were 
thrown  closely  together  on  account  of  the  similarity  of  our  views  in 
many  matters  which  came  before  the  convention.  I  recall  distinctly 
the  effort  which  was  made  to  induce  Governor  St.  John  to  accept  the 


358  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

nomination.  Mr.  Finch  made  confidants  of  myself  and  Brother  Roberts 
of  this  city.  Governor  St.  John  had  refused  to  accept  the  nomination, 
and  if  this  fact  had  been  known  he  could  not  have  been  nominated. 

"  I  can  recall,  as  though  it  happened  to-day,  standing  at  the  telegraph 
window  and  writing  the  telegrams  which  said  to  Governor  St.  John,  '  We 
propose  to  use  your  name  with  or  without  your  consent.'  I  was  very 
much  struck  with  the  persistency  with  which  Mr.  Finch  pressed  the 
nomination  of  Governor  St.  John. 

"  The  marked  characteristic  of  Mr.  Finch  was  his  persistency  and 
courage  in  carrying  out  a  purpose  which  seemed  to  him  right,  and  which 
would  advance  the  interest  of  the  cause  to  which  he  devoted  his  life. 

"  About  a  year  ago  I  invited  him  to  take  a  sleigh  ride  on  the  Brighton 
Road.  Most  men  would  have  given  themselves  up  to  the  pleasure  of  the 
ride,  dropping  outside  matters  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  hour.  Not  so 
with  Mr.  Finch.  Nearly  all  the  time  while  we  were  out  he  was  impress- 
ing upon  my  mind  the  importance  of  the  coming  battles  for  constitu- 
tional prohibition  in  Michigan,  Texas,  West  Virginia,  and  Oregon,  ask- 
ing my  ideas  on  the  subject,  to  see  what  help  I  could  give  him  in  the 
different  States.  We  planned  to  send  five  thousand  copies  of  his 
speeches  into  Tennessee  and  Texas.  He  so  interested  me  that  it  was 
with  difficulty  I  controlled  my  horses.  Yet  even  while  discussing  mat- 
ters of  such  moment,  he  would  laugh  heartily  at  some  grotesque  figure 
and  sight,  and  within  the  moment  pass  to  the  consideration  of  questions 
connected  with  his  life-work. 

"  No  one  could  associate  with  him  without  seeing  his  earnestness  and 
devotion  to  his  work.  One  of  my  last  meetings  with  him  was  at  Silver 
Lake  Camp-Meeting  in  1887.  I  remember  his  look  of  surprise 
and  his  pleasant  smile  and  hearty  grasp  of  the  hand  as  he  met  and 
greeted  myself  and  wife.  I  recall  the  long  conversation  on  the  piazza  in 
connection  with  matters  where  the  two  organizations  over  which  we 
presided  were  brought  into  conflict,  and  some  matters  which  were  per- 
plexing both  of  us. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  359 

"  I  never  knew  a  man  who  could  laugh  more  heartily  than  he,  and 
who  seemed  to  enjoy  the  witticisms  of  other  public  speakers.  At  one 
meeting  at  Silver  Lake  Mr.  Critchfield  made  a  speech  following  that  of 
Mr.  Finch.  The  peculiar  words  and  grotesque  sayings  of  Mr.  Critch- 
field convulsed  Mr.  Finch,  and  his  hearty  laughter  could  be  heard  all 
over  the  camp  ground  ;  so  magnetic  was  it  that  it  seemed  to  lead  the 
entire  audience  of  five  thousand  people  with  him.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  last  grasp  of  his  hand  as  he  stepped  into  the  car  on  leaving  me  at 
Silver  Lake,  and  his  earnest  words  in  regard  to  the  future. 

"  His  common  method  of  greeting  a  friend  was  to  take  him  by  the 
arm  and  walk  closely  by  his  side,  and  his  magnetic  pressure  and  pres- 
ence was  indicative  of  his  good-fellowship.  In  my  home  he  was  as  free 
as  though  it  was  his  own  ;  the  children  loved  to  welcome  him,  and,  I 
think,  felt  that  he  was  as  dear  as  though  attached  to  them  by  ties  of 
blood.  The  kindliness  of  his  nature,  the  warmth  of  his  welcome,  and 
the  pleasantness  of  his  words  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  en- 
joyed his  personal  friendship.  He  was  seldom  discouraged  by  adverse 
circumstances.  When  I  uttered  words  indicating  that  possibly  I 
thought  the  fight  was  too  great  for  us,  he  would  tell  me  not  to  be  dis- 
heartened. " 

In  the  campaign  of  1884  Mr.  Finch  did  double  duty. 
He  could  not  be  spared  from  the  platform,  and  his  keen 
perceptions  were  constantly  needed  to  shape  the  field  work, 
so  that  he  was  compelled  to  make  long  journeys  to  New 
York  or  Chicago  to  look  over  correspondence  and  keep 
close  watch  of  daily  developments. 

By  taking  trains  at  the  close  of  his  lectures  and  riding  at 
night  he  was  able  to  travel  long  distances  to  headquarters, 
and  after  superintending  the  details  of  the  campaign  return 
to  his  field  work  with  the  loss  of  very  little  time.  Several 


360  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

times  after  an  evening  speech  he  rode  from  some  point  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State,  to  New  York  City,  reaching  there 
in  the  early  morning,  spending  part  of  the  day  in  consulta- 
tion with  other  members  of  the  committee,  and  leaving  in 
the  afternoon  in  time  to  fill  an  appointment  in  another 
State. 

Handicapped  by  lack  of  funds,  he  was  unable  to  carry 
into  execution  all  the  plans  that  suggested  themselves  to 
his  busy  brain,  but  he  patiently  and  heroically  pushed  for- 
ward, making  the  most  of  the  limited  means  and  facilities 
at  his  disposal,  and  when  the  campaign  closed  he  was  sur- 
prised at  the  results. 

Immediately  after  the  election  he  sent  a  telegram  from 
New  York  to  the  Chicago  Daily  News,  in  which  he  said 
that  the  Prohibition  Party  had  beaten  the  Republicans, 
and  would  now  bend  its  efforts  to  the  defeat  of  the  Demo- 
cratic Party  in  1888  or  1892. 

This  telegram  was  widely  copied,  and  aroused  a  furious 
storm  of  indignation  among  the  leaders  of  the  defeated 
party.  A  few  Prohibitionists  regretted  the  precipitation  of 
the  exasperating  telegram  at  a  time  when  the  political  pas- 
sions of  men  were  at  fever  heat. 

The  following  letter,  of  date  November  24th,  in  answer 
to  a  friend  who  had  criticised  him  for  sending  the  message, 
indicates  his  purpose  in  it,  and  the  keen  foresight  which 
inspired  it  : 

"  The  Republicans  are  terribly  mad,  but  their  anger  will 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  361 

cool  when  they  realize  that  they  could  not  win  this  time 
without  us,  and  certainly  cannot  in  1888. 

"  I  disliked  to  send  out  the  telegram,  and  yet  it  was 
necessary.  If  it  had  not  been  done  they  would  have  denied 
in  less  than  two  years  that  we  were  of  any  importance  in 
settling  the  election.  By  provoking  their  attack  on  us  now 
I  have  compelled  them  to  admit  and  put  on  record  that  we 
are  a  political  power.  The  only  thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  keep 
a  '  stiff  upper  lip  '  and  say  :  'We  offered  you  our  votes  at 
your  Chicago  Convention,  but  you  would  not  take  them. ' ' ' 

In  November  and  December  after  the  election,  the  Phila- 
delphia Press,  followed  by  the  St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat, 
Iowa  State  Register ,  and  a  host  of  smaller  journals,  more 
partisan  than  honest,  assailed  the  prohibition  candidate, 
Governor  St.  John,  with  a  series  of  the  most  malignant 
slanders  ever  published  against  a  public  man.  Governor 
St.  John  promptly  denied  every  charge  in  the  most  sweep- 
ing and  comprehensive  terms,  and  challenged  proof.  The 
Republican  newspapers  in  almost  every  instance  refused  to 
publish  this  denial,  the  papers  originating  the  slander  being 
foremost  among  the  number  declining  to  do  justice.  Clark- 
son,  of  the  Republican  National  Committee,  admitted  that 
he  desired  to  bribe  St.  John,  and  said  to  a  reporter  of  the 
St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat : 

"  I  had  no  doubt  it  would  be  right  to  defeat  the  Demo- 
cratic Party  by  the  use  of  this  false  and  treacherous  means 
if  it  could  be  done." 


362  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Clarkson  was  finally  forced,  by  the  repeated  denials  of 
his  slanders,  to  announce  that  Legate,  of  Kansas,  was  his 
only  witness. 

On  the  publication  of  Legate's  name  in  connection  with 
the  slanders,  Mr.  Finch  telegraphed  him,  and  upon  receipt 
of  his  reply  sent  the  following  letter  to  the  Voice : 

"  BOSTON,  MASS.,  January  19. 

"  J.  F.  Legate  has  for  years  been  one  of  the  most  prominent  Repub- 
licans of  Kansas,  member  of  the  Republican  State  Committee  and  of 
the  Legislature.  He  is  one  of  the  best  stump  speakers  in  Kansas,  and 
in  this  way  was  intimately  associated  with  St.  John.  He  now  com- 
pletely vindicates  St.  John,  and  says  he  (Legate)  was  simply  acting  as 
the  agent  of  the  Republican  National  Committee,  to  bribe  St.  John. 
The  press  here  having  quoted  him  as  saying  he  represented  St.  John 
and  the  Prohibition  Committee  in  the  bribery  business,  I  wired  him, 
and  have  just  received  this  reply  -. 

"  '  LEAVENWOBTH,  KAN.,  January  18. 
"  '  I  have  never  said  any  such  thing  to  anybody,  at  any  time,  nor  is 

there  any  truth  in  the  assertion. 

"  '  JAMES  F.  LEGATE." 

"  Clarkson,  by  introducing  Legate,  has  convicted  himself  and  the 
Republican  National  Committee  of  vile  political  corruption.  Call  for 
Clarkson's  books  now,  and  let  the  people  know  if  he  did  buy  any  Pro- 
hibitionists, and  what  he  paid  for  them.  In  this  way  we  may  possibly 
get  an  explanation  of  some  of  the  letters  written  for  Elaine  during  the 
last  campaign.  A  viler  plot  to  induce  a  man  to  betray  his  followers 
was  never  concocted  by  political  rascals  than  this  attempt  to  buy  St. 
John,  and  now  we  want  to  know  how  much  Clarkson  did  pay  for  those 
he  induced  to  attempt  to  betray  their  friends. 

"  We  have  the  Republican  National  Committee  convicted  of  an  attempt 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  363 

to  bribe,  and  we  must  now  file  a  bill  of  discovery  for  all  letters,  tele- 
grams, receipts,  and  accounts  of  disbursements  of  the  bribery  depart- 
ment of  the  National  Republican  Committee. 

"  JOHN  B.  FINCH, 
"  Chairman  Prohibition  National  Committee." 

The  following  day  he  sent  an  open  letter  to  Clarkson,  a 
copy  of  which  appeared  in  the  Chicago  Daily  News  and 
many  other  newspapers  : 

"  BOSTON,  MASS.,  January  20,  1885. 

"  Clarkson,  superintendent  of  the  bribery  department  of  the  Repub- 
lican National  Committee,  having  charged  St.  John  with  fraud,  the  evi- 
dence was  demanded.  He  called  his  witness.  The  witness  vindicated 
St.  John.  Clarkson  now  impeaches  his  own  witness,  and  wants  St.  John 
to  sue  Clarkson  for  political  libel  in  the  Republican  State  of  Iowa.  He 
has  evidently  taken  Elaine's  opinion  that  a  judgment  cannot  be  recov- 
ered where  party  politics  are  involved,  and  so,  instead  of  owning  that 
he  was  played  as  a  sucEer  by  Legate,  and  that  he  lied  about  St.  John, 
tries  the  game  of  bluff.  By  this  he  admits  that  he  has  no  evidence  to 
convict  St.  John,  and  wants  St.  John  to  help  convict  himself.  With 
your  permission  I  want  to  ask  this  head  of  the  bribery  department  a  few 
questions  : 

"  Is  Legate  the  only  witness  you  can  produce  against  St.  John  ? 

"  Does  Legate  tell  the  truth  when  he  says  he  was  Clarkson's  agent? 

' '  Legate  being  your  witness,  are  you  not  either  to  take  his  testimony 
or  stand  branded  as  a  man  who  introduced  a  liar  to  prove  his  case  ? 

"  Legate  having  vindicated  St.  John,  are  you  not  bound  to  take  the 
testimony  of  your  own  witness,  and  as  an  honest  man  apologize  ? 

"  Have  you  or  your  friends  a  letter  or  telegram  direct  from  St.  John  ? 

"  Have  you  a  letter  or  telegram  that  purports  to  be  signed  by  him  ? 

' '  When  was  this  attempt  to  break  down  the  Prohibition  Party  first 
discussed  in  your  committee  ? 


364  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  How  much  money  was  set  aside  for  the  purpose  of  bribing  the  pro- 
hibition leaders  ? 

"  What  prohibition  leader  did  you  first  attempt  to  reach  ? 

"Will  you  publish  your  entire  correspondence  with  different  Prohibi- 
tionists ? 

"  Will  you  give  the  public  a  detailed  statement  of  the  money  spent  by 
your  committee  ? 

"  Does  Mr.  McCullagh  tell  the  truth  when  he  says  you  agreed  to  pay 
St.  John  $25,000  ? 

"  Do  you  regard  it  an  honorable  thing  to  attempt  to  bribe  a  candidate 
to  betray  his  followers  ? 

"  Would  honorable  men  listen  to  the  propositions  of  a  traitor  to  be- 
tray honest  men  and  women  ? 

"  Why  did  you  consort  with  Legate  ? 

"  Did  you  intend  to  buy  St.  John  if  you  could  get  him  cheap  enough? 

"  Is  not  a  man  who  will  listen  to  and  help  arrange  a  plot  to  bribe,  as 
vile  and  mean  as  a  man  who  accepts  a  bribe  ? 

"  Did  you  not  know  that  you  stated  a  falsehood  when  you  said  St. 
John  left  Ohio  to  keep  his  contract  with  you  ? 

"  Is  not  a  man  who  will  enter  into  a  plot  to  bribe  and  then  betray  the 
confidential  communications  of  his  agent,  as  you  did  Legate's,  a  dishon- 
orable man  V 

"  If  placed  on  the  National  Committee  in  1888,  will  you  attempt  to 
buy  the  prohibition  candidate  ? 

"  Will  you  at  once  publish  all  evidence  you  have  in  this  whole  matter, 
with  a  detailed  statement  of  the  amount  paid  the  '  New  York  Temper- 
ance Assembly,'  and  those  who  wrote  letters  for  Elaine  ? 

"JOHN  B.  FINCH." 

To  these  sharp  interrogations  neither  Clarkson  nor  his 
fellow-conspirators  ever  made  reply,  and  the  slander  has 
since  peacefully  slumbered. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  365 

In  the  three  active  years  that  followed  the  election  of 
1884  Mr.  Finch  participated  in  many  State  and  local  cam- 
paigns, and  was  the  trusted  counsellor  and  adviser  of  the 
Prohibition  Party  leaders  in  all  parts  of  the  Union. 

Fred.  F.  Wheeler,  Chairman  of  the  New  York  Prohibi- 
tion State  Committee,  expresses  his  opinion  of  the  value  of 
the  services  of  Mr.  Finch,  and  describes  the  ovation  he  re- 
ceived upon  his  appearance  in  the  State  Convention  in 
August  of  1887  • 

"  In  my  judgment  he  was  not  only  the  ablest  of  the  temperance  ora- 
tors of  this  country,  but  by  his  speeches,  oral  and  printed,  he  revolu- 
tionized the  line  of  thought  and  argument  of  nearly  all  the  others. 

"  His  ability  as  a  political  leader  was  never  fairly  tested,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  he  achieved  some  notable  and  brilliant  victories. 

"  Could  he  have  been  Chairman  of  the  National  Committee  when  ours 
had  become  one  of  two  leading  parties,  when  quick  planning  and  brill- 
iant execution  on  a  large  scale  would  be  required,  we  should  have  seen 
what  power  he  had.  Could  he  have  lived  to  be  elected  to  Congress  a 
few  years  hence,  with  a  fair  number  of  fellow  Congressmen  of  his 
political  faith  as  co-workers,  he  would  have  distinguished  himself  as  a 
statesman. 

"  At  our  State  Convention  held  in  Syracuse  August  27th,  1887,  he 
was  honored  as  no  other  man  has  ever  been  in  a  similar  body.  Alhambra 
Hall  was  packed  with  a  body  of  intelligent  people.  The  conscientious, 
thinking  representatives  of  the  thirty-six  thousand  Prohibitionists  of 
the  Empire  State  and  many  of  the  best  citizens  of  Syracuse  were  there. 
The  Poughkeepsie  Brass  Band,  composed  entirely  of  Prohibitionists, 
had  played  several  popular  airs.  The  Silver  Lake  Quartet  sang  some  of 
their  soul-stirring  songs,  which  aroused  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  of 
the  vast  audience  to  a  wonderful  degree.  After*  prayer  the  chairman,  in 


366  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

a  few  appropriate  remarks,  introduced  '  Our  National  Leader,  John  B. 
Finch.'  Instantly  the  applause  broke  forth,  and  as  Mr.  Finch  came  for- 
ward it  grew  louder  and  louder.  Ladies'  handkerchiefs  fluttered  in  the 
air,  the  vast  audience  arose  as  one  man,  while  hats,  umbrellas,  parasols, 
and  handkerchiefs  were  waving  vigorously,  and  the  band  played  '  See,  the 
conquering  hero  comes.'  As  the  band  concluded  the  applause  subsided. 

"  During  this  excitement,  which  stirred  and  thrilled  all  who  witnessed 
it,  Mr.  Finch  stood  motionless  in  that  familiar  attitude  with  his  hand 
resting  on  his  chin  and  head  bowed  low. 

"As  the  applause  subsided  and  he  remained  motionless  a  moment, 
some  one  called  out,  '  What's  the  matter  with  Finch  ?  '  and  a  chorus  of 
a  thousand  voices  responded  lustily,  '  HE'S  ALL  EIGHT.'  Then  came  a 
new  outburst  of  applause,  nearly  as  long  and  as  hearty  as  the  preceding 
hurricane  had  been.  He  began  his  speech  slowly,  and  in  a  low  tone 
said  he  had  just  come  from  the  Pennsylvania  State  Convention,  and  was 
exceedingly  tired.  He  did  not  warm  up  to  his  work  as  quickly  as  usual, 
and  some  who  had  heard  him  often,  were  fearful,  knowing  he  was 
overworking  ;  but  after  a  half  hour  he  began  to  launch  forth  those 
ponderous  arguments  in  thunderous  tones,  with  those  powerful  gestures 
that  his  superb  physical  development  enabled  him  to  make,  and  we 
realized  that  '  Finch  was  himself  once  more.'  October  5th  I  received 
a  letter  from  him,  which  had  been  delayed  en  route,  in  which  he  said  : 
'  I  will  rest  on  the  15th  and  16th.'  Little  did  he  think  when  he  penned 
those  words  that  when  those  dates  arrived  he  would  have  gone  to  '  that 
bourn  from  whence  no  traveller  retiirns.'  His  death  but  increases  the 
duties  of  those  who  are  left.  I  freely  confess  that  I  have  done  and  shall 
do  my  humble  part  with  more  intelligence  and  greater  zeal  than  if  I  had 
never  known  John  B.  Finch." 

From  the  large  number  of  tributes  to  his  merit  as  a  party 
leader,  a  few  only  can  be  given,  but  these  reflect  the  senti- 
ment of  hundreds  of  others  : 


TSE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  367 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  the  leader  of  the  prohibition  army  in  its  war 
against  the  rum  power  of  this  nation.  He  was  the  right  man  in  the 
right  place,  a  profound  reasoner,  an  eloquent  speaker,  and  a  consum- 
mate organizer.  The  astonishing  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the 
cause  of  prohibition  is  greatly  due  to  his  industry,  energy,  and  talents. 
His  name  will  be  embalmed  in  the  history  of  his  country  with  that  of 
Lincoln  and  others  like  him." — Hon.  James  Baker,  ex-Chief  Justice  of 
Missouri. 

"  If  we  did  not  believe  in  Providence,  and  that  the  Prohibition  Party 
is  under  the  special  care  and  guidance  of  God,  in  whose  name  its  banner 
has  been  unfurled,  we  should  be  greatly  discouraged  by  Mr.  Finch's 
death.  But  He  who  has  called  this  brilliant  commander  from  the  field 
of  battle  to  receive  the  crown  of  victory  will  not  fail  to  provide  a  sub- 
stitute qualified  to  fill  the  vacant  place." — New  York  Weekly  Witness. 

'•'  I  regard  John  B.  Finch,  our  beloved  Prohibition  Party  leader  and 
my  dear  personal  friend,  as  the  best  equipped,  bravest,  most  skilful 
and  successful  advocate  of  prohibition,  the  cause  has  ever  had  in  this  or 
any  other  country.  He  combined  in  a  very  remarkable  manner,  fault- 
less, irresistible  logic,  with  the  most  persuasive  and  convincing  elo- 
quence. He  made  more  converts  to  the  Prohibition  Party  by  his  mas- 
terly addresses  than  any  other  one  has  done  who  has^risen  up  among  us. 
A  recent  illustration  of  his  wonderful  power  was  seen  in  the  great  suc- 
cess of  his  efforts  at  our  prohibition  camp-meeting  in  1887  at  Glyndon 
Park. 

1 '  With  rare  endowments  of  mind,  he  very  happily  combined  the  most 
tender,  generous,  and  noble  impulses  of  heart.  Socially,  he  was  one  of 
the  most  easy,  affable,  and  genial  companions.  He  seemed  naturally  to 
attract  and  attach  people  to  him.  To  know  him  was  to  love  him. 

"  He  had  a  keen  insight  into  human  nature,  and  was  a  born  leader. 
Take  him,  all  in  all,  I  fear  we  shall  never  see  his  like  again." — Bon- 
Wittiam  Daniel,  Baltimore,  Md. 


368  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  I  considered  John  B.  Finch  to  be  a  man  of  superior  intellect  and 
most  conscientious  devotion  to  duty.  His  last  engagements  of  four 
nights  were  made  for  him  by  me,  when  he  was  weary  and  needed  rest  ; 
but  he  came  to  fill  them,  and  while  he  was  thus  seeking  to  do  his  work 
and  save  the  people  from  disappointment,  he  was  suddenly  called  home. 
The  temperance  people  of  Massachusetts  knew  him  well,  esteemed  him 
highly,  and  none  could  feel  his  loss  more  keenly." — Prank  P.  Dyer, 
Secretary  Massachusetts  Prohibition  State  Committee. 

"  By  universal  consent  John  B.  Finch  was  a  great  leader  of  men.  He 
came  into  the  first  place  among  the  goodly  company  of  temperance  re- 
formers, as  Washington  came  in  to  command  of  the  Continental  Army,  by 
magnificent  fitness.  Elevated  and  steady  in  his  purposes,  of  broad 
sympathies  and  keen  insight  into  the  causes  of  events,  he  everywhere 
won  hearts  to  his  cause  and  commanded  the  respect  of  those  within  the 
circle  of  his  influence,  whether  they  agreed  with  him  or  not. 

The  loss  of  such  a  man  at  such  a  time  is  one  of  those  inscrutible 
Providences  which  another  world  must  unfold  to  our  understanding." — 
J.  B.  Gambrell,  Editor  of  the  Sword  and  Sfdeld,  Jackson,  Miss. 

"  He  was  the  greatest  man  in  his  chosen  field  in  the  world.  As  leader 
of  the  Prohibition  Party,  he  proved  himself  not  only  a  statesman,  but 
a  politician  of  the  very  highest  order  of  ability.  He  was  brave,  fearless, 
honest,  and  true,  and  had  no  superior  as  a  statesman  in  this  country. 
Noble,  generous,  pure — a  Christian  and  a  nobleman— the  name  of  John 
B.  Finch  will  live  as  long  as  there  are  patriots  to  commemorate  in  song 
and  story  the  grand  achievements  and  noble  deeds  of  the  century's 
greatest  hero."— J.  B.  Granfill,  Editor  of  Waco  (Texas)  Advance. 

"  Mr.  Finch  was  strong,  yet  tender  ;  bold,  but  sympathetic  ;  logical, 
at  the  same  time  sweet.  Honest  in  every  fibre,  he  hated  hypocrisy  and 
shuffling.  Knowing  well  the  corruption  and  the  corrupter  of  our  poli- 
tics, he  knew  also  the  elements  of  complete  purification.  Kemembering 
that  character  is  the  development  of  principles,  he  labored  eloquently 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  369 

to  sow  the  seeds  of  a  better  harvest.     Kightly  judging  this  generation, 
he  wanted  to  improve  the  next. "  —  Rev.  A.  A.  Miner,  Boston,  Mass. 

"  He  was  born  to  lead,  and  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  lagging. 
His  influence  will  prove  a  lasting  power  for  good  in  the  cause  he  so 
nobly  represented.  His  clear  perception  of  the  political  rights  and 
duties  of  the  citizen,  as  brought  out  in  his  lectures  and  writings,  has  had 
and  will  ever  have  a  far-reaching  influence  upon  American  thought  and 
action.  The  name  of  John  B.  Finch  will  yet  stand  out  as  one  of  the 
brightest  and  best  in  American  history." — Allen  B.  Lincoln,  Editor  of 
Connecticut  Home. 

The  following  letters  and  paragraphs  from  men  and 
newspapers  bitterly  hostile,  politically,  to  Mr.  Finch  show 
the  impress  of  his  genius  upon  his  adversaries.  George 
Hoadly  writes  : 

"  I  was  introduced  to  John  B.  Finch  when  I  was  Governor  of  Ohio, 
and  a  candidate  for  re-election.  Mr.  Finch  was  on  the  stump  for  the 
prohibition  cause,  to  which  I  was  earnestly  opposed.  I  saw  but  little  of 
him,  but  the  little  that  I  did  see,  and  the  much  that  I  heard,  gave  me  a 
very  exalted  opinion  of  his  high  and  noble  character.  His  ambition  was 
lofty,  and  his  spirit  was  large  and  generous.  I  entirely  disagreed  with 
him  in  opinion.  I  did  not  believe  the  method  in  which  he  sought  to 
treat  the  subject  of  temperance  to  be  the  true  method.  I  believe  in  the 
utility  of  fermented  vinous  and  spirituous  liquors  as  beverages  when 
taken  in  moderation,  and  that  the  world  would  be  much  worse  off  if 
prohibition  could  succeed.  Therefore  I  was  the  enemy  of  his  opinions, 
and  met  him  as  such  ;  but  I  was  attracted  to  him  by  finding  that  we  had 
common  sentiments  on  other  subjects,  and  that  the  object  and  end  and 
aim  of  his  life  was  one  in  which  I  was  in  thorough  sympathy — the  eleva- 
tion of  the  down-trodden  and  oppressed,  the  reform  of  the  degraded, 


370  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.   FINCH. 

and  the  assistance  of  all  to  better  self-control.  He  sought  the  result  in 
a  way  which  did  not  seem  to  me  wise  or  practicable,  but  he  sought  it  by 
noble,  open,  and  persuasive  methods,  such  as  compelled  the  respect  of 
those  who,  like  myself,  differed  from  him. 

"  I  looked  forward  to  very  great  success  to  be  achieved  by  him,  for  I 
have  felt  certain  for  years  that  the  ^Republican  Party  has  outlived  its 
usefulness,  and  that  the  Prohibition  Party  would  take  its  place,  and  that 
Mr.  Finch  had  earned  the  place  of  leader  of  this  great  movement." 

The  Journal,  of  Syracuse,  Neb.,  says  : 

"  The  news  of  the  sudden  death  of  Hon.  John  B.  Finch  came  like  a 
clap  of  thunder  out  of  a  clear  sky  to  the  people  of  Nebraska  ;  for  what- 
ever were  the  feelings  of  hostility  toward  him  as  a  political  agitator,  he 
was  universally  respected  as  a  man,  and  his  superior  ability  as  an  orator 
and  organizer  was  freely  conceded. 

"  Disagreeing  with  him  in  many  things,  we  still  admire  his  genius,  his 
indomitable  perseverance,  restless  energy,  and  wonderful  organizing 
abilities.  In  the  political  arena  we  recognized  him  as  a  knightly  foeman 
worthy  the  most  highly  tempered  steel." 

George  C.  King,  publisher  of  the  Perry  (N".  Y.)  Herald, 
writes  to  the  Voice : 

"  Though  of  different  political  faith  from  the  late  John  B.  Finch,  I  am 
one  of  the  many  in  this  section  who  were  deeply  shocked  at  the  news  of 
his  sudden  death,  and  I  cannot  forbear  offering  a  word  of  tribute  to  one 
whom  I  deemed  a  very  high  type  of  manliness  and  public  ability.  His 
face  and  speech  were  familiar  to  the  audiences  that  have  met  year  by 
year  at  the  Silver  Lake  Assembly,  near  this  place  ;  and  though  in  this 
Bepublican  stronghold  he  drew  upon  himself  a  storm  of  hostile  com- 
ment by  his  bold  and  caustic  arraignment  of  the  old  parties,  yet  he  was 
always  sure  of  plenty  of  listeners  and  of  a  respectful  hearing  on  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINGS.  371 

part  of  the  more  thoughtful.     With  me,  I  confess,  it  was  a  case  of  '  al- 
most thou  persuadest.'    His  image  is  indelibly  stamped  in  the  memory — 

"  '  An  eye  of  light,  a  forehead  pure  and  free ; 

Strength  as  of  streams,  and  grace  as  of  the  wave.1 

Such  a  commanding  personality,  such  superb  power,  can  it  be  that  they 
are  stricken  out?" 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HOME   LIFE. 

The  best  portion  of  a  good  man's  life, 
His  little,  nameless,  unremembered  acts 

Of  kindness  and  of  love. 

Wordsworth. 

"A  /TR.  FINCH  loved  home.  In  his  frequent  long  ab- 
•"-*•  Bences  he  was  constantly  "  counting  the  days"  that 
must  elapse  ere  his  return.  The  desire  for  home  life  grew 
stronger  each  year.  The  praise  of  the  multitude,  the 
tender  kindness  of  friends  everywhere  manifest,  comforting 
though  it  was,  never  filled  his  heart  with  that  supreme  con- 
tent that  he  gathered  from  the  few  days  at  home. 

The  first  housekeeping  began  in  the  spring  of  1879,  in 
Lincoln,  Neb.  In  all  the  details  of  the  household  labor  he 
took  the  keenest  interest,  and  most  cheerfully  gave  his  aid. 
He  never  held  the  false  notion  that  "  woman's  sphere"  is 
domestic  drudgery  and  that  a  man  must  not  share  this  toil, 
but  must  devote  himself  wholly  to  other  departments  of 
work. 

"When  Mrs.  Finch  had  household  tasks  to  perform  he 
insisted  upon  relieving  her  of  the  more  burdensome.  On 
one  occasion,  when  Mrs.  Finch  had  no  "  help,"  he  returned 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  373 

home  and  found  her  engaged  with  the  weekly  "  washing." 
He  knew  that  she  was  not  well  when  he  left  home,  and 
feared  the  results  of  such  severe  work.  Instantly  taking 
off  his  coat  and  cuffs,  he  said  gently  : 

"  Puss,  you  must  not  do  that.  I  will  finish  the  wash- 
ing." 

He  applied  himself  to  the  work,  and  after  completing  it 
hung  the  clean  garments  on  the  line  and  put  the  wash- 
room in  order. 

His  mechanical  ingenuity  was  great.  He  thoroughly 
understood  the  construction  of  all  kinds  of  machinery,  from 
an  egg-beater  to  a  locomotive.  Whenever  the  sewing- 
machine,  or  any  other  household  implement  was  broken  he 
would  repair  it  with  little  expenditure  of  time  or  trouble. 

Whenever  Mrs.  Finch  was  without  a  servant,  he  swept 
the  floors  and  dusted,  brought  water,  kindled  fires,  carried 
out  ashes,  replenished  the  coal-box,  and  gave  aid  in  all  the 
housework.  This  was  the  practice  of  his  whole  life.  He 
had  helped  his  mother  in  the  same  way  during  his  boyhood. 

Of  his  mother  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  April  21st,  1881, 
the  single  mournful  line:  "Mother  died.  She  made  me 
all  I  am." 

Soon  after  he  rented  his  first  house  and  began  to  realize 
the  meaning  of  a  "  home  of  his  own,"  he  came  in  contact 
with  a  wild  and  reckless  young  man,  about  whom  the  father 
and  mother  were  constantly  filled  with  the  keenest  anxiety. 
Mr.  Finch  took  the  young  man  to  his  home  and  out  into 


374  THE  LIFE  OF-  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

the  field  where  he  was  lecturing,  employing  him  in  selling 
temperance  books  and  circulating  temperance  newspapers, 
hoping  to  influence  him  to  sobriety  and  honesty.  He  con- 
tinued caring  for  the  young  man  for  some  months,  never 
afterward  losing  sight  of  or  interest  in  him.  The  boy  in 
time  became  a  sober,  industrious  business  man. 

A  source  of  great  enjoyment  to  him  in  his  home  was  the 
entertainment  of  friends.  His  cordial  invitations  to  hia 
intimate  acquaintances  to  come  to  his  house  and  spend  a 
day  or  a  week  with  him,  were  always  heartfelt. 

Mr.  Finch  loved  all  children.  He  could  enter  most 
heartily  into  their  sports,  and  appreciated  with  warmest 
sympathy  all  their  joys  and  sorrows.  For  the  homeless 
ones  he  felt  the  tenderest  compassion,  and  in  his  great, 
warm  heart  there  was  room  for  every  one  left  desolate. 

Sometimes  he  would  return  to  his  home  and  say  to  Mrs. 
Finch  : 

11 1  saw  a  child  to-day  that  I  would  like  to  adopt." 

He  loved  to  talk  to  children,  and  he  never  failed  to  catch 
their  attention  and  arouse  their  interest.  He  talked  about 
the  little  world  in  which  their  lives  revolved,  and  they 
entered  into  conversation  with  him  with  all  the  easy  fa- 
miliarity of  old  acquaintance. 

In  November,  1879,  a  new  attraction  came  to  his  home 
life.  Little  John  D.  Finch  was  born  on  the  twenty-first 
day  of  that  month.  When  the  little  son  was  presented  to 
him  he  took  him  in  his  arms,  and  looking  proudly  into  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  375 

face  of  his  wife  he  exclaimed  :  "  I  am  the  happiest  man  in 
Lincoln. "  From  the  hour  of  his  birth  the  boy  was  a  source 
of  never-failing  delight  and  pride  to  the  fond  father. 

"  Ah  !  what  would  the  world  be  to  us 

If  the  children  were  no  more  ? 
We  should  dread  the  desert  behind  us 
Worse  than  the  dark  before. 

"  For  what  are  all  our  contrivings, 
And  the  wisdom  of  our  books, 
When  compared  with  your  caresses, 
And  the  gladness  of  your  looks  ? 

"  Ye  are  better  than  all  the  ballads 

That  ever  were  sung  or  said  ; 
For  ye  are  living  poems, 
And  all  the  rest  are  dead. " 

When  "  the  baby,"  as  his  papa  always  called  him,  was 
only  five  weeks  old,  Mr.  Finch  said  to  the  mother  : 

"  You  must  get  into  the  fresh  air.  Go  out  for  a  walk 
while  I  take  care  of  '  baby. '  : 

Mrs.  Finch  would  not  have  left  the  child  alone  with  a 
nurse,  but  feeling  perfectly  secure  in  putting  him  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Finch,  she  began  taking  daily  exercise.  One 
evening  he  suggested  that  his  wife  should  go  to  an  enter- 
tainment. She  objected,  but  he  insisted,  and  she  went. 
On  her  return  late  in  the  evening  she  found  him  walking 
the  floor  to  quiet  the  baby,  and  laughing  as  though  it  had 
been  a  pleasant  joke. 


376  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Mrs.  Finch  had  always  been  identified  with  the  move- 
ment for  woman  suffrage  in  Nebraska,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  State  Suffrage  Associa- 
tion. When  "little  John"  was  two  years  old  the  annual 
State  Suffrage  Convention  was  held  in  Kearney.  Mrs. 
Finch  desired  to  attend,  but  felt  unable  to  go  away  from 
home  for  three  days  and  take  her  "  baby." 

Learning  of  this  from  some  remark  of  hers,  Mr.  Finch 
said  : 

"  I  can  be  at  home  during  the  session  of  your  conven- 
tion. You  go,  and  I  will  gladly  stay  at  home  with  the 
boy." 

The  arrangement  was  accordingly  made,  and  Mrs.  Finch 
attended  the  convention.  On  her  return  he  met  her  at  the 
railroad  station  with  the  boy  in  his  arms,  and  laughingly 
told  an  acquaintance,  as  she  stepped  from  the  train,  that 
his  wife  was  just  returning  from  a  woman  suffrage  conven- 
tion and  he  had  been  staying  at  home  for  three  days  to 
take  care  of  the  baby. 

Whenever  he  was  obliged  to  be  absent  on  long  lecture 
tours,  he  was  always  greatly  concerned  for  the  welfare  of 
the  family  at  home,  and  repeatedly  urged  his  wife  to  invite 
a  favorite  aunt  to  live  with  her  for  a  companion. 

Home  was  never  forgotten  in  the  hurry  and  care  of  his 
many  journeys.  Whenever  he  found  a  new,  interesting, 
and  valuable  book  he  bought  and  sent  it  home  to  Mrs. 
Finch. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINC3.  377 

He  loved  beautiful  things,  and  his  artistic  eye  culled  the 
best.  He  sent  many  pictures  to  wife  and  boy,  the  last  one 
to  Mrs.  Finch,  the  etching  "  La  Source." 

On  his  return  home  he  would  open  his  valise  and  say  to 
his  dear  ones  as  he  handed  them  some  present  or  souvenir, 
"  I  thought  you  would  like  this." 

"When  Mrs.  Finch  accompanied  him  in  his  long  journeys 
he  always  made  an  effort  to  reach  all  points  of  interest  on 
the  way,  visiting  famous  resorts  and  viewing  fine  scenery, 
delighting  in  his  wife's  appreciation  of  the  beauties  of 
nature  that  he  loved  so  well. 

He  had  several  urgent  requests  to  visit  England,  Africa, 
and  Australia  in  the  interest  of  the  work,  but  never  was 
willing  to  go  without  Mrs.  Finch  and  "  the  baby,"  whose 
care  he  loved  to  share  with  the  mother. 

One  night  he  gave  an  address  to  a  great  audience  in 
Richmond,  Va.  Mrs.  Finch  was  to  follow  with  a  reading. 
She  said  to  him  :  ' c  I  cannot  take  care  of  John  while  I  go 
upon  the  platform."  Mr.  Finch  said  :  "I  will  take  him 
to  our  room."  To  do  this  it  was  necessary  to  take  the 
sleeping  boy  in  his  arms  and  carry  him  down  the  crowded 
aisle  to  the  door.  As  he  threaded  his  way  through  the 
crowd  a  tumultuous  cheer  rose  from  the  assembled  multi- 
tude. 

Mr.  Finch  never  wore  ornaments,  though  he  often  re- 
ceived presents  of  valuable  jewels,  and  sometimes  purchased 
jewelry  for  his  wife.  He  sent  her  a  brooch  from  Boston 


378  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  3.  FINCH. 

at  one  time  when  too  busy  to  write  a  long  letter,  engraved 
with  the  single  word  "Mizpah."  This  talisman  Mrs. 
Finch  has  greatly  prized  because  of  the  mystic  significance  : 
"  The  Lord  watch  between  me  and  thee  when  we  are  absent 
one  from  another." 

Miss  Gertrude  Cushman,  Past  Right  Grand  "Worthy 
Superintendent  of  Juvenile  Temples,  paints  the  following 
pleasant  picture  of  the  home  life  of  Mr.  Finch  as  she  saw 
it: 

"  Of  the  few  days  it  was  his  privilege  to  spend  with  those  he  loved, 
every  moment  that  was  not  devoted  to  the  '  world's  work '  was  spent 
caring  for  the  lawns,  garden  vases,  and  the  thousand  and  one  things 
that  love  always  prompts  the  hand  to  do  ;  not  alone  to  outside  things, 
but  he  gave  the  finishing  stroke  to  fall  house-cleaning,  beating  rugs,  etc. 

"  After  a  busy  day  at  the  desk,  our  handsome  leader,  the  boy  John, 
and  the  dog  Tasso,  with  much  laughter  and  frolic  placed  a  rug  upon  the 
line  for  cleaning. 

"  I  can  never  forget  the  beautiful  picture  of  the  autumnal  sun  deep- 
ening the  grass-plot  into  the  loveliest  emerald  green,  the  happy  face  of 
the  father,  the  sparkling  eyes  of  the  son,  the  silken  Newfoundland,  the 
soft  coloring  of  the  Persian  rug  harmonizing  with  all. 

"  A  little  apart  from  the  others,  the  wife  and  mother  standing  with  a 
smile  of  love  beaming  from  every  feature. 

"  The  first  stroke  is  given  and  the  line  breaks,  which  causes  fresh 
bursts  of  laughter  from  all.  The  rug  is  raised,  and  again  the  line  breaks. 
The  disaster  is  treated  as  the  greatest  joke  imaginable.  A  third  time 
the  rug  is  hung,  and  again  the  line  breaks.  Not  a  cloud  flits  over  the 
sunny  face  of  the  husband  and  father,  but  with  the  smile  we  all  so  well 
remember  hovering  around  his  mouth,  he  says  :  '  Puss,  isn't  this  too 
much  for  flesh  and  blood  to  bear  ? ' 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  379 

"  The  good  wife  enters  the  house,  returning  with  a  stronger  line,  and 
the  work  is  completed. 

"  This  is  a  living  exemplification  of  patience. 

"  The  evening  meal  is  eaten,  spiced  with  repartee,  and  the  twi- 
light hour  is  spent  in  entertaining  conversation  led  by  the  genial 
host. 

"  The  miniature  John  asks  for  a  story,  which  is  told  ;  a  romp  follows, 
until  he  is  carried  away  on  his  father's  shoulder,  and  we  hear  the  softly 
breathed  '  Now  I  lay  me, '  and  see  this  strong  man  carefully  lift  the  little 
white -robed  figure  in  his  arms  and  place  him  on  his  couch.  He  pauses 
a  moment,  with  all  the  love  and  tenderness  of  a  mother  illuminating  his 
face. 

"  Never  was  paternal  love  more  developed  or  more  rounded  out. 

"  Never,  in  his  grandest  achievements  upon  the  platform,  was  our 
leader  and  chieftain  so  marvellously  grand  as  in  the  performance  of 
these  little  duties  too  sacred  to  be  entrusted  to  hireling  hands.  Always 
happy,  and  never  more  so  than  when  rendering  service  to  make  others 
equally  happy,  it  can  truly  be  said  he  was 

"  '  A  man  who  dared  to  think,  to  live, 

To  act  true  to  his  soul's  divineet  light, 
And  to  the  world  impulses  give 
For  truth  and  right.' " 

At  one  time  when  Mr.  Finch  expected  to  spend  Sunday 
in  Detroit,  and  had  not  time  to  reach  home  and  return  to 
his  appointment,  he  wrote  Mrs.  Finch  to  come  to  that  city 
to  meet  him,  and  was  much  disappointed  at  not  finding  her 
there.  On  his  return  home  he  asked  the  reason,  and  when 
informed  that  she  had  used  the  money  that  the  trip  would 
have  cost  in  temperance  work  for  Chicago  he  was  satisfied, 
and  praised  the  self-denial. 


380  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

In  his  diaries  there  is  always  an  entry  at  some  time  in 
December  :  u  Purchased  Christmas  presents  for  loved  ones 
at  home." 

One  Christmas  he  gave  Mrs.  Finch  a  fine  set  of  Dickens' s 
works ;  on  another  an  elegantly  bound  and  illustrated 
Longfellow.  Books  were  his  favorite  gifts.  In  September 
of  1887,  as  though  in  preparation  for  his  absence  at  the 
coming  Yule-tide,  he  sent  Mrs.  Finch  her  present,  a  beauti- 
ful white  plush  album  of  Christmas  cards. 

After  his  purchase  of  an  unimproved  half  section  of 
Nebraska  land,  he  became  much  interested  in  developing  it. 
He  employed  a  farmer  who  owned  land  adjoining  to  plough 
and  put  a  portion  of  the  farm  in  cultivation.  He  bought 
tree  seed  and  sent  it  to  him  for  planting,  had  hedges  and 
fruit-trees  set  out,  fences  built,  and  other  improvements 
made.  He  said  concerning  "the  farm:"  "  If  I  break 
down  in  my  work  and  lose  my  health,  I  can  go  to  work  on 
the  farm  and  recover  my  strength,  and  I  want  to  improve 
it  so  as  to  make  it  home-like." 

After  purchasing  the  home  in  Evanston  he  seemed  even 
more  interested  in  adorning  and  beautifying  it  than  he  had 
in  the  farm.  On  his  "  rest  days"  he  would  often  work  for 
hours  improving  the  lawns,  clearing  away  leaves,  or  attend- 
ing to  flowers.  In  dry  summer  weather  he  kept  the  grass 
sprinkled,  so  that  it  remained  as  green  as  in  spring-time 
throughout  the  whole  season.  When  he  had  not  time  to 
attend  to  the  details  of  this  work  he  employed  a  man  to  do 


THE   HOME   AT   EVAN8TON,    ILL. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  383 

it,  but  whenever  possible  lie  greatly  preferred  to  perform 
the  labor. 

On  leaving  home  he  always  said  to  Mrs.  Finch,  "  Take 
good  care  of  the  lawn  and  the  flowers." 

"  Little  John"  was  a  source  of  infinite  delight  to  his 
father.  He  was  never  cross  or  impatient  with  the  boy,  and 
was  always  ready  to  take  him  on  his  journeys  whenever  it 
was  practicable.  The  attachment  between  father  and  son 
was  mutual.  The  boy  idolized  his  father. 

As  the  child  was  necessarily  much  alone,  having  no 
brother  or  sister  for  a  playmate,  his  father  thought  a  large 
dog  would  be  a  pleasing  companion.  He  accordingly  pur- 
chased in  New  York  a  thoroughbred  Newfoundland  puppy, 
and  brought  him  home  in  a  basket.  Little  John  had  been 
promised  this  present,  and  when  his  father  took  the  dog 
from  the  basket,  the  lad  looked  at  the  animal  for  a  long 
time,  and  finally  looking  up  into  his  father's  face,  said  very 
soberly:  "  He'll  do." 

"While  the  family  were  all  absent  from  home  for  a  few 
days  the  following  summer,  the  dog  was  shot.  On  his  re- 
turn Mr.  Finch  treated  the  wounded  dog  and  entirely  cured 
him.  During  another  absence  the  dog  was  poisoned.  The 
child  was  very  much  grieved,  and  his  father  helped  him  to 
bury  his  canine  friend,  and  comforted  him  as  no  one  else 
could  have  done. 

Mr.  Finch  loved  to  tell  of  the  pranks  of  his  boy,  and  of 
his  bright  acts  and  sayings. 


384  THE  LIFE  Off  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

The  boy's  memory  of  localities  was  excellent.  When 
only  four  years  old  he  was  absent  from  home  with  his 
mother  for  three  months.  Upon  their  return  to  Lincoln, 
he  ran  ahead  of  his  parents  and  found  his  own  home,  though 
it  was  in  the  centre  of  a  row  of  houses  built  exactly  alike. 

Travelling  with  his  father  and  mother  through  different 
cities,  he  always  remembered  the  locations  of  the  hotels, 
and  never  was  lost  when  alone  in  the  streets. 

When  John  was  a  little  more  than  five  years  old  his 
mother  employed  a  servant  girl,  who  became  ill  with  a 
headache,  and  went  home  on  the  same  day  she  commenced 
work.  Mrs.  Finch  was  very  weary  and  sat  down,  saying  : 

"  John,  your  mamma  is  very  tired,  and  must  rest.  1 
ought  to  have  a  girl  to  help  me." 

John  had  sometime  passed  an  intelligence  office,  and 
some  one  had  explained  the  business  to  him.  While  his 
mother  rested,  he  started  for  an  office,  and  said  to  the  agent 
in  charge  : 

"  My  name  is  John  Finch.  My  mamma  wants  a  good 
girl  right  away,  one  that  don't  have  headache." 

As  a  result  of  this  order,  Mrs.  Finch  soon  secured  an  ex- 
cellent servant,  who  remained  with  her  for  more  than  two 
years. 

Little  John  has  a  very  observing  and  inquiring  mind. 
He  asks  about  the  things  he  does  not  understand,  and  in- 
sists upon  a  full  explanation.  His  father  had  always  taken 
delight  in  gratifying  his  curiosity  to  the  fullest  extent. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  387 

No  doubt  he  had  sometime  explained  to  the  child  the  sad 
cause — the  loss  of  parents — which  often  sends  the  newsboys 
on  the  street  to  earn  their  living. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  the  news  that  his  father  was  no  more, 
which  was  told  him  by  a  boj  on  the  street,  little  John  was 
completely  stunned,  and  could  scarcely  stand  ;  recovering 
himself  he  went  bravely  on  to  school,  where  he  remained 
till  sent  for  by  his  mother,  when  he  hurried  home,  and  rush- 
ing to  his  mother's  room,  exclaimed  : 

"  My  papa  is  dead,  and  I've  got  to  sell  papers  now." 

The  next  day  he  gathered  a  quantity  of  old  fruit  baskets 
that  had  accumulated  in  the  basement  during  the  summer, 
and  sold  them  on  the  street,  bringing  the  money  received 
for  them  to  his  mother,  with  the  words  : 

"  See  here,  ma,  I  have  got  fifteen  cents." 

"  "Where  did  you  get  it  ?"  asked  his  mother. 

"  I  got  all  those  old  peach  baskets  and  took  them  around 
to  the  grocery  stores  and  sold  them.  We  didn't  want  them 
any  more." 

"Now,  John,"  said  Mrs.  Finch,  "  I  do  not  like  that. 
Do  not  do  anything  of  the  kind  again." 

The  child  looked  troubled  by  this  reply,  and  said  in  justi- 
fication of  his  business  transactions  : 

"  "Well,  mamma,  I- knew  I'd  got  to  do  something  to  earn 
money  to  take  care  of  you. ' ' 

One  night  while  Mr.  Finch's  body  was  lying  in  the 
house,  John  said  to  Mrs.  Sibley  : 


388  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  That  ain't  my  father  down  there  in  the  casket." 

"No,"  was  the  answer  ;  "  that  is  only  what  was  earthly 
of  your  father." 

"  Does  anybody  know  anything  about  heaven  ?"  was  the 
next  question. 

"  Yes,  we  know  what  the  Bible  tells  us." 

11  How  do  we  know  God  wrote  the  Bible  ?" 

After  Mrs.  Sibley  had  explained  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures,  with  which  he  was  familiar,  he  said  :  "  Yes,  I 
know  all  about  that,"  and  continued,  "  My  father  was  a 
great  man,  wasn't  he  ?" 
.  "Yes." 

"  Do  you  suppose  I'll  ever  be  as  great  a  man  as  my  father 
was?" 

"  I  hope  so,  John,"  answered  Mrs.  Sibley. 

"I  don't  know  yet  what  I'll  do  when  I  get  to  be  a 
man,"  continued  the  boy.  "  Do  you  suppose  my  father 
will  tell  me  what  to  do  from  heaven  ?  Mamma  thinks  he 
will.  I've  got  to  do  something  to  earn  money,  and  I've 
got  to  decide  pretty  quick  what  I  shall  do  when  I  am  a 
man." 

Owing  to  the  utter  prostration  of  Mrs.  Finch,  it  was 
necessary  for  every  person  in  attendance  to  refrain  from 
any  manifestation  of  the  all-pervading  grief.  Without 
being  warned  by  any  one,  little  John  restrained  all  his  feel- 
ings while  in  the  presence  of  his  mother.  One  day  he  said 
to  Mr.  Sibley  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  389 

"  I  have  to  cry  sometimes.  I  can't  help  it,  but  I  don't 
let  mamma  see  rne,  because  I  have  to  be  careful  of  her  ;  she 
can't  stand  it." 

No  doubt  the  father  and  husband,  from  beyond  the 
bounds  of  mortality,  is  watching  tenderly  over  wife  and 
child,  and  would  whisper  to  their  souls  : 

"  Weep  not  for  me  ; 
Be  blithe  as  wont,  nor  tinge  with  gloom 
The  stream  of  love  that  circles  home, 

Light  hearts  and  free  ! 
Joy  in  the  gifts  Heaven's  bounty  lends, 
Nor  miss  my  face,  dear  friends  ! 

"  I  still  am  near  ; 

Watching  the  smiles  I  prized  on  earth, 
Your  converse  mild,  your  blameless  mirth  ; 

Now,  too,  I  hear 

Of  whispered  sounds  the  tale  complete, 
Low  prayers  and  musings  sweet." 

Mrs.  Finch  began  very  early  to  read  Bible  lessons  to  her 
child.  He  became  much  interested,  and  desired  to  read 
them  for  himself,  liking  the  Psalms  so  well  that  he  asked 
his  mother  in  November,  after  the  loss  of  his  father,  to  buy 
him  a  separate  volume  of  the  songs  of  David.  As  he 
seemed  so  much  in  earnest,  she  decided  to  give  him  the 
book  with  his  Christmas  presents,  but  said  nothing  to  him. 
Receiving  no  definite  reply  to  his  repeated  requests,  and 
having  no  spending  money  of  his  own  at  that  time,  the  boy 


390  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

thought  he  must  secure  the  coveted  volume  by  his  own  ex- 
ertions. Accordingly,  he  made  a  wager  with  a  boy  who 
owned  a  book  of  Psalms,  to  run  a  race  with  him  for  the 
book.  He  won  the  race,  and  triumphantly  marched  home 
with  his  prize.  His  mother  induced  him  to  return  it,  and 
on  Christmas  he  received  the  much-desired  volume. 

Mrs.  Finch  was  reared  in  a  Universalist  family.  At 
eighteen  she  became  interested  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  with  which  she  afterward  united. 

Mr.  Finch  always  attended  the  same  church  with  his  wife 
from  a  natural  preference,  but  he  did  not  unite  with  the 
church  until  February  9th,  1886,  soon  after  his  removal  to 
Evanston. 

His  whole  public  work  was  full  of  practical  piety,  but  he 
detested  pretence  and  sham.  He  never  made  any  display 
of  his  professions,  but  quietly  observed  the  duties  of  a 
Christian  life. 

"In  such  righteousness, 
To  them  by  faith  imputed,  they  may  find 
Justification  toward  God,  and  peace 
Of  conscience." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

INCIDENTS   AND   CHARACTERISTICS. 

God  measures  souls  by  their  capacity 
For  entertaining  His  best  angel,  Love  ; 
Who  loveth  most  is  nearest  kin  to  God, 
Who  is  all  love,  or  nothing. 

He  who  sits 

And  looks  out  on  the  palpitating  world, 
And  feels  his  heart  swell  in  him  large  enough 
To  hold  all  heaven  within  it,  he  is  near 
His  great  Creator's  standard. 

What  God  wants  of  us 
Is  that  outstretching  bigness  that  ignores 
All  littleness  of  aims,  or  loves,  or  creeds, 
And  clasps  all  earth  and  heaven  in  its  embrace. 

Ella  Wheeler. 

TN  the  life  of  every  man  there  are  many  minor  events, 
•*•  bearing  no  intimate  relation  to  the  stronger  currents  of 
his  existence,  and  yet  making  vivid  impressions  on  the 
minds  of  observers.  The  memory  of  snch  events  often 
outlives  the  recollection  of  date,  or  place,  or  surrounding 
circumstances,  but  marks  no  less  indelibly  the  traits  of 
character  that  they  betray. 

Friends  linger  lovingly  over  such   remembrances   and 


392  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

never  weary  of  repeating  the  story  of  these  seemingly  tri- 
fling occurrences  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Finch. 

His  impulsive  benevolence  was  well  known,  though  never 
ostentatiously  displayed.  He  could  not  endure  to  look  upon 
suffering  or  want,  poverty  or  privation,  without  lifting  his 
hand  to  help  or  relieve.  The  sorrows  of  "  the  babies,"  as 
he  always  called  children,  touched  the  tenderest  chords  of 
his  warm,  sympathetic  heart. 

One  frosty  morning  after  he  had  bought  a  paper  of  a  bare- 
foot newsboy,  he  asked  him  :  "  Haven't  you  any  shoes 
and  stockings  ?" 

The  little  lip  quivered,  as  he  answered,  "  No,  sir." 

"Why  don't  your  papa  buy  you  some?" .asked  Mr. 
Finch. 

"  I  hain't  got  no  papa,"  was  the  mournful  answer. 

"  Well,  come  with  me,  then,"  and  he  led  the  boy  to  the 
nearest  shoe-store,  and  purchased  shoes  and  stockings  for 
him  to  his  great  delight  and  wonder. 

No  man  could  have  felt  greater  indifference  for  the  mere 
forms  and  fashions  of  social  life,  or  could  have  manifested 
a  greater  disregard  for  the  lines  of  caste  dividing  the  poor 
from  the  rich,  and  the  proud  from  the  lowly  ones  of  earth. 
He  always  boarded  at  the  best  hotel  in  any  city  he  visited, 
not  because  of  pride  or  selfish  love  of  luxury,  but  because 
he  worked  hard  and  needed  every  possible  comfort. 

How  little  he  cared  for  the  aristocratic  associations  of  the 
place  was  shown  by  a  circumstance  that  happened  at  a 


TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCS.  *  393 

fashionable  hotel  where  he  was  well  known,  and  had  often 
spent  an  occasional  day  or  week  in  his  journeyings  for 
several  years. 

Arriving  in  the  city  one  forenoon  he  set  out  for  the 
hotel,  only  a  few  blocks  away,  on  foot,  carrying  his  heavy 
valise  in  his  hand.  A  tiny  little  lad  accosted  him  : 

"  Carry  your  satchel,  sir  ?     Carry  it  for  a  dime." 

Looking  down  at  the  mite  of  humanity  and  at  the  big 
valise,  he  laughed  in  his  light,  cheery  way,  and  answered  : 

"  You  couldn't  carry  one  side  of  it." 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  I  do  carry  'em.    Won't  you  let  me  carry  it  ?" 

"  No,  I'll  give  you  the  dime,  and  carry  it  myself,"  and 
he  handed  the  boy  the  money,  expecting  to  see  him  scamper 
off.  But  the  boy  was  bound  to  earn  the  money,  and  per- 
sisted : 

"  Sha'n't  I  carry  it  a  little  ways  ?" 

"  Yes,  you  take  hold  of  the  strap  atone  end  and  I'll  take 
the  other,  and  we  will  carry  it  together,"  assented  Mr. 
Finch,  and  the  diminutive,  ragged,  dirty-faced  lad  trotted 
along  beside  him,  answering  his  questions  and  apparently 
glad  to  be  able  to  earn  his  money  rather  than  accept  it  as 
a  gift. 

"  What  made  you  so  anxious  to  earn  that  dime  ?"  asked 
Mr.  Finch. 

"  'Cause  I  ain't  no  beggar,  and  I  hain't  had  no  break- 
fast." 

The  sturdy  independence  and  manliness,  so  unlike  many 


394  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

of  the  street  boys  of  the  great  cities,  completely  won  Mr. 
Finch.  He  determined  to  give  the  boy  and  some  other 
people  a  genuine  snrprise.  It  was  near  noon  as  he  walked 
down  the  marble  floor  of  the  corridor  toward  the  clerk's 
desk  and  registered,  "John  B.  Finch  ancTa  friend,"  re- 
questing to  be  shown  at  once  to  his  room,  saying  to  the  lad, 
"  Come  with  me." 

In  his  room  he  told  the  boy  to  wash  and  comb  his  hair, 
that  he  might  be  ready  for  dinner.  At  the  door  a  friend 
shook  him  by  the  hand,  but  remonstrated  against  the  ragged 
boy  in  the  elegant  dining-room.  The  head  waiter  attempt- 
ed to  turn  the  lad  back,  but  Mr.  Finch  said  sternly,  "  He 
is  my  guest,"  and  marched  as  proudly  down  the  long 
room  as  though  a  prince  were  by  his  side.  Every  eye 
was  turned  upon  him,  some  in  scorn,  some  in  wrath, 
and  others  with  a  merry  twinkle,  but  he  paid  no  heed, 
except  to  nod  cheerily  as  he  recognized  a  friend.  He  en- 
joyed the  wild-eyed  wonder  of  the  boy  as  he  partook  of  a 
more  sumptuous  meal  than  he  had  ever  dreamed  of,  and 
laughed  heartily  at  the  waiter's  frown  as  he  chatted  with  his 
queer  guest  till  the  meal  was  finished,  and  the  child  returned 
to  earth  from  his  visit  to  fairyland. 

At  another  time,  accompanied  by  a  friend,  he  was  climb- 
ing one  of  the  hillside  streets  of  Kansas  City.  It  was  mid- 
winter, and  a  fierce  wind  was  blowing,  penetrating  to  the 
bone.  Turning  a  corner,  a  newsboy  confronted  them — 
"  Times  f  Journal  f  morning  paper  ?" 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  395 

He  was  one  of  the  most  pitiable  specimens  of  humanity 
ever  seen.  Old  gunny  sacks  were  tied  round  his  feet,  and 
the  thin  rags  covering  his  body  fluttering  in  the  wind,  re- 
vealed here  and  there  the  naked  flesh  benumbed  with  cold. 

"  "Why  don't  you  go  home  ?"  asked  Mr.  Finch. 

"Ain't  got  none." 

"  Where  do  you  sleep  at  night  ?" 

' '  Down  in  a  shed  side  of  the  b'iler-room  of factory. " 

"  Where  are  your  father  and  mother  ?" 

"  Mam's  dead,  dad's  drunk  most  of  the  time." 

"  If  you  had  some  clothes  would  he  take  them  away  from 
you  and  pawn  them  for  whiskey  ?" 

"  Betcher  life  he  wouldn't  git  no  chance." 

"  Come  with  me,  then." 

Mr.  Finch  and  his  friend,  accompanied  by  the  boy,  made 
their  way  to  the  nearest  clothing-store,  where  he  purchased 
a  full  suit  for  the  boy,  including  stockings,  shoes,  cap, 
undershirts,  and  overcoat. 

In  relating  the  incident,  the  friend  said  :  "  As  long  as 
we  were  in  sight  of  him  after  we  left  the  store,  that  boy 
was  standing  still  gazing  after  us,  as  though  he  expected  us 
to  return  and  take  away  all  that  had  been  given  him." 

On  one  occasion  Mr.  Finch  found  a  woman  in  tears 
pleading  with  a  merchant  for  assistance  to  get  to  her  friends 
in  the  East,  saying  if  she  could  reach  home  she  could  take 
care  of  herself.  She  was  the  wife  of  a  clergyman — former 
pastor  of  the  church  to  which  the  merchant  belonged.  Her 


396  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  3.   FINCH. 

» 

husband's  health  failed,  and  they  had  exhausted  their  small 
means  to  pay  his  expenses  at  health  resorts  in  hopes  of  re- 
covery, hence  her  present  distress.  Mr.  Finch  had  never 
met  the  lady  before,  but  hearing  her  name  spoken  by  the 
merchant  comprehended  the  situation,  and  remembered, 
perhaps,  an  encouraging  word  spoken  to  him  by  her  hus- 
band. After  she  had  been  refused  the  aid  she  sought  from 
the  merchant,  Mr.  Finch  purchased  for  her  a  ticket,  and 
gave  her  pocket  money  to  make  her  comfortable  on  the 
journey.  This  was  not  done  without  inconvenience  and 
sacrifice  on  his  part,  for  only  a  day  or  two  after  he  was 
compelled  to  borrow  money  to  enable  him  to  reach  an  ap- 
pointment. 

George  R.  Scott  thus  describes  an  incident  which  occurred 
in  Cleveland,  O.  : 

"  Mr.  Finch  was  generous  to  a  fault.  His  fingers  were 
always  engaged  in  opening  his  pocketbook.  While  stand- 
ing with  him  in  Lake  Side  Park  looking  at  the  waters  of 
Lake  Erie,  a  poor  woman,  covered  with  dirt  and  filled  with 
whiskey,  stepped  up  and  asked  us  to  help  her  to  reach  her 
daughter's  home  in  the  city  of  Detroit.  He  looked  at  her, 
and  with  a  sweet  smile  said  :  '  Old  lady,  would  you  really 
like  to  go  home  and  try  and  do  better  ?  '  '  God  bless  you, 
sir,  indade  I  would  !  '  Taking  me  aside,  he  said  :  '  I  feel 
like  doing  her  a  good  turn,'  and  leaving  her  with  me  he 
went  to  the  railroad  office,  purchased  her  a  ticket,  and  made 
arrangements  with  one  of  the  railroad  officials  to  see  her 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  397 

safely  through.  The  poor,  despised  old  woman  looked 
astonished,  and  well  she  might." 

One  of  the  representatives  from  England  to  the  Right 
Worthy  Grand  Lodge  was  robbed  of  all  his  money  by  con- 
fidence men  in  New  York.  Mr.  Finch  guaranteed  all  his 
expenses,  paid  his  hotel  bill  in  New  York  and  railroad  fare 
to  the  place  of  the  session,  where  money  was  raised  among 
the  members  to  pay  his  fare  home. 

While  on  the  way  from  Lincoln,  Neb.,  to  Harvard  one 
Saturday  afternoon,  he  overheard  the  conductor  of  the 
train  saying  to  a  poor  woman  who  had  a  ticket  for  Aurora 
that  she  was  on  the  wrong  train  and  must  get  off  at  Crete. 
Noticing  her  evident  distress,  Mr.  Finch  asked  her  the 
cause,  and  was  informed  that  she  had  no  money  to  pay  her 
fare  back  to  Lincoln  or  to  pay  her  board  till  Monday  after- 
noon, when  the  next  train  would  leave  for  her  destination. 
He  promptly  handed  her  the  amount  needed  to  pay  these 
expenses,  although  it  left  him  entirely  without  money  to 
pay  his  own  expenses. 

Gifts  of  money  to  those  in  poverty  or  need  were  not  his 
only  donations  to  the  unfortunate.  At  the  risk  of  his  own 
life  he  would  help  a  fellow-being  in  distress. 

On  a  railroad -train  in  Illinois  his  attention  was  attracted 
by  a  man  whose  groans  indicated  that  he  was  suffering  great 
pain.  Mr.  Finch  approached  him,  asked  some  questions, 
felt  his  pulse,  and  made  a  critical  examination  of  his  condi- 
tion, discovering  that  the  man  had  small-pox.  He  informed 


398  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  passengers,  and  they  rapidly  retreated  to  the  other 
coaches.  Mr.  Finch  bravely  stood  by  the  stranger's  side 
till  the  train  reached  Chicago,  when  he  delivered  him  over 
to  the  health  authorities,  and  went  on  to  his  work.  Taking 
proper  precautions,  he  avoided  an  attack  of  the  disease  to 
which  he  had  been  exposed,  never  having  been  vaccinated. 
To  his  pity  and  tenderness  to  those  who  were  in  trouble, 
he  added  the  bitterest  detestation  of  injustice  and  oppres- 
sion. If  painted  from  life  no  truer  picture  could  be  made 
than  the  lines  of  Whittier  : 

"  The  very  gentlest  of  all  human  natures 

He  joined  to  courage  strong  ; 
And  love  outreaching  unto  all  God's  creatures, 
With  sturdy  hate  of  wrong. " 

In  August,  1884,  several  temperance  meetings  were  held 
in  the  great  tabernacle  at  the  Chautauqua  Assembly 
grounds.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  had 
been  allowed  certain  days  and  were  engaged  in  a  meeting,  one 
of  their  most  prominent,  gifted,  and  cultured  members  being 
on  the  platform  delivering  an  address,  when  the  managers 
of  the  ground  interrupted  and  asked  the  ladies  to  vacate  the 
tabernacle  that  it  might  be  prepared  for  the  reception  of  a 
great  Republican  Party  leader,  who  was  to  be  present  dur- 
ing the  day.  So  great  was  the  haste  of  the  obsequious  ser- 
vants of  a  political  party,  that  they  took  possession  of  the 
platform  and  removed  the  property  of  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  with  what  seemed  rude  and  unman- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  399 

nerly  speed.  This  treatment  had  been  a  fertile  theme  of 
discussion  for  two  or  three  days,  when  Mr.  Finch  arrived 
to  fill  an  engagement  to  lecture.  Just  before  going  on  the 
platform  he  was  informed  of  these  circumstances. 

Dropping  the  topic  which  had  been  in  his  mind,  he  gave  a 
most  wonderful  description  of  woman's  work,  and  an  eloquent 
appeal  for  justice,  fairness,  and  right  in  dealing  with  her. 

At  the  close  of  his  address  the  "  Chautauqua  salute,"  in 
its  fullest  whiteness,  was  waved  by  the  vast  audience,  and 
cheer  after  cheer  rose  from  the  assembled  thousands.  As 
the  people  dispersed,  hundreds  of  women  pressed  forward 
to  shake  Mr.  Finch  by  the  hand,  and  thank  him  for  his 
masterly  defence. 

George  C.  Christian  relates  an  incident  which  shows  his 
superior  administrative  ability  as  well  as  the  spiritual  side 
of  his  nature,  which  occurred  while  he  presided  at  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  at  Richmond,  Va., 
in  May,  1886. 

"  A  question  was  being  discussed  with  great  warmth  of 
feeling,  when  suddenly  two  of  the  prominent  members  be- 
came personal  in  their  remarks,  and  used  angry  words  tow- 
ard each  other.  For  a  moment  it  was  feared  that  these 
words  would  be  succeeded  by  other  manifestations  of  ill- 
temper.  As  quick  as  a  flash  Mr.  Finch  comprehended  the 
situation,  and  calling  the  members  to  their  feet  with  the 
gavel,  quietly  said  :  '  The  Right  Worthy  Grand  Chaplain 
will  please  lead  us  in  prayer.' 


400  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"Brother  Chreitzburg  offered  a  wonderful  petition,  ear- 
nest, pathetic,  and  fall  of  melting  tenderness  rarely  equalled. 
The  prayer  acted  like  a  charm  upon  the  entire  body,  and 
softened  the  feelings  of  the  disputing  brothers  so  much 
that  there  was  no  further  misunderstanding  during  the 
session." 

Mr.  Finch  was  delivering  an  address  in  an  Iowa  town 
during  the  prohibitory  amendment  campaign.  The  house 
was  crowded,  and  many  liquor  men  were  present.  The 
speaker  took  up  some  of  the  paralogisms  of  John  P. 
Irish,  and  ground  them  to  powder  beneath  his  irresistible 
logic. 

The  audience  cheered  the  powerful  utterance  enthusiasti- 
cally, and  one  man,  who  could  no  longer  endure  the  re- 
peated applause  to  the  convincing  arguments,  lost  all  con- 
trol of  himself  and  rushed  from  the  room  yelling  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  "  You  lie  !  you  lie  !" 

After  the  excitement  subsided  Mr.  Finch  quietly  said, 
"  That  man  has  proved  that  my  statements  are  true.  If 
they  had  been  false,  he  would  not  have  run,  but  would 
have  stayed  to  disprove.  Only  the  defeated  run." 

At  one  time  when  Mr.  Finch  was  very  ill  of  typhoid' 
fever,  and  unable  to  speak,  the  physician  ordered  brandy, 
saying  that  nothing  else  would  carry  the  patient  through 
the  crisis  of  the  disease.  He  shook  his  head  in  refusal  of 
the  brandy,  and  they  gave  him  milk  for  nourishment  and 
used  a  small  quantity  of  cayenne-pepper  to  stimulate  heart 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCK  401 

action.     Over  forty  persons  died  in  the  village  in  a  few 
weeks  from  the  brandy  treatment. 

The  marvellous  resources  of  his  mind  were  equal  to  any 
emergency.  Among  the  best  speeches  he  ever  made  wore 
some  of  those  given  under  the  inspiration  of  some  great 
occasion,  and  never  repeated  or  preserved. 

Such  an  occasion  came  at  the  funeral  of  C.  W.  Bassett, 
Grand  Secretary  of  Illinois,  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends. 
Mr.  Finch  and  Colonel  Sobieski  remained  with  the  dying 
secretary  during  the  last  few  days  of  his  life,  striving  to 
cheer  his  path  to  the  shore  of  the  dark  river. 

Mr.  Finch  said  to  him  one  day,  "It  is  only  a  question 
of  a  short  time  when  we  shall  meet  you  again.  You  will 
be  waiting  while  we  are  working.  If  you  were  leaving  for 
California,  to  make  that  your  permanent  home,  we  should 
be  sadder,  for  we  may  never  see  that  State." 

The  last  day  he  said,  "  I  am  glad  to  see  you  going  so 
cheerful,  old  boy." 

Mr.  Bassett  asked  these  two  best  friends  to  take  charge 
of  the  funeral,  and  after  his  death  Mr.  Finch  embalmed 
the  body.  Colonel  Sobieski  had  been  selected  to  deliver 
the  funeral  oration,  but  as  he  rose  to  address  the  people  he 
was  utterly  overcome,  and  sank  back  whispering  :  "  Finch, 
speak  to  this  audience." 

Without  a  second  for  preparation,  Mr.  Finch  arose  and 
delivered  an  address  on  the  "  Immortality  of  the  Soul," 
which  held  the  people  spellbound  for  an  hour.  At  the 


402  THE  LIFE  OF  JOUN  B.   FINCH. 

close  of  the  service  the  ministers  of  the  town  called  in  a 
body  at  his  hotel  to  request  a  copy  of  the  address  for  publi- 
cation. Mr.  Finch  responded  to  the  request : 

11  Gentlemen,  I  could  no  more  reproduce  that  address 
than  if  it  had  never  been  spoken.  The  occasion  demanded 
it,  and  the  words  were  shaped  to  the  needs  of  the  hour." 

His  powers  of  endurance  were  very  great.  In  a  single 
year  he  lectured  in  twenty  States  and  provinces,  visiting 
some  of  them  several  times  in  the  year  and  delivering  more 
than  two  hundred  addresses,  attending  grand  and  district 
lodges,  and  keeping  up  his  extensive  correspondence,  often 
writing  all  day  and  lecturing  at  night. 

In  reaching  the  States  visited — California,  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  Nebraska,  Illinois,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  Maine — and  the  Provinces  of  Ontario — 
Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  Prince  Edward  Island — he 
was  obliged  to  travel  nearly  thirty  thousand  miles,  and 
spend  an  amount  of  time  equal  to  more  than  an  entire 
month,  night  and  day,  upon  railroad  trains. 

This  was  only  a  sample  of  the  work  he  performed  in  each 
of  the  last  four  years  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   LAST   JOURNEY. 

How  swift  was  your  going,  my  brother  ; 

Were  all  the  tasks  ended  so  soon, 
Before  the  bright  dew  of  the  morning 

Was  dried  by  the  splendors  of  noon  ? 
"Did  you  gather  the  harvest  of  living 

From  fields  yet  aglow  with  your  June  ? 

How  swift  was  your  going,  my  brother, 
Away  from  our  uttermost  reach  ; 

No  tender  farewell  in  the  silence 
From  all  the  rare  wealth  of  your  speech  ; 

No  word  from  the  lips  that  so  calmly 
Smile  on,  while  we  vainly  beseech. 

How  swift  was  your  going,  my  brother  ; 

Can  it  be  you  were  weary,  indeed  ? 
Your  voice  was  so  ringing  and  steady, 

Your  spirit  but  stronger  in  need  ; 
Were  you  hiding  the  hurt  of  the  battle, 

With  no  one  to  comfort  or  heed  ? 

How  strange  was  your  going,  my  brother  ; 

What  voice  did  you  hear  from  afar 
So  urgent  you  paused  in  the  conflict, 

And  vanished  from  sight  like  a  star  ? 
Who  sailed  with  your  soul  at  its  going 

Out  over  eternity's  bar  ? 


404  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Are  we  late  with  our  praises,  my  brother  ? 

You  needed  them  more  when  the  strain 
Of  the  battle  was  pressing  upon  you. 

Ah  me  !  with  what  royal  disdain 
Death  crowns  you  apart  in  a  kingdom 

Untouched  by  our  praising  or  blame. 

You  make  us  no  answer,  my  brother, 

Your  silence  rebukes  our  lament 
And  sends  us  afield,  where  the  contest 

For  truth  and  the  human  are  blent. 
Ah  !  God  was  anear  in  that  shadow, 

You  found  Him  the  pathway  you  went ; 
No  wonder  you  make  us  no  answer, 

Since  crowned  with  eternal  content. 

Mary  T.  Laihrop. 

Friday  morning,  September  30th,  at  eleven  o'clock 
Mr.  Finch  reached  home  from  a  long  trip  in  Dakota, 
where  he  had  been  at  work,  in  connection  with  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Good  Templars,  to  secure  local  prohibition  in  as 
many  counties  as  possible. 

Upon  his  arrival  he  said  to  Mrs.  Finch,  "  I  must  see 
some  of  the  workers  before  I  go  East,  and,  if  you  will  go 
with  me,  I  will  run  in  to  Chicago  this  afternoon." 

This  being  agreed  upon,  the  contemplated  visits  to  pro- 
hibition headquarters  and  to  the  offices  of  several  Prohibi- 
tionists were  made,  and  the  afternoon  spent  in  discussing 
the  condition  and  needs  of  the  Western  work. 

Saturday  morning  he  was  up  early  and  at  his  desk  writing 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  407 

letters.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  said  : 
"  This  is  my  only  day  at  home,  and  1  will  not  write  all  day." 

This  was  so  unusual  that  it  was  very  gratifying  to  Mrs. 
Finch,  who  accompanied  him  to  the  lake  shore,  a  few  blocks 
away,  as  soon  as  his  writing  was  laid  aside.  They  visited 
some  cottages  which  were  in  process  of  construction,  and 
while  viewing  them,  Mr.  Finch  remarked  : 

11  In  five  or  six  years,  if  I  live  as  long,  I  should  like  to 
have  a  cottage  on  the  Hudson,  and  rest  and  study  during 
the  summer  months." 

When  they  re  turned  home  they  were  seated  on  the  porch, 
and  Mrs.  Finch,  after  looking  long  and  earnestly  in  his 
face,  asked  : 

"  Are  you  well  ?  1  do  not  think  you  are  looking  usually 
well.  There  is  an  uncommon  pallor  in  your  face." 

"  I  am  feeling  well ;"  then,  after  a  moment  a  shadow 
passed  over  his  face  as  he  added  :  "  My  head  troubles  me." 

Mrs.  Finch  thought  it  only  a  passing  headache,  but  after- 
ward realized  how  much  he  was  suffering. 

"  This  will  be  a  long  and  tiresome  trip  after  your  exces- 
sive work  in  Dakota,"  she  said. 

"I  fear  it  will,"  he  answered,  and  the  conversation 
turned  upon  home  matters. 

He  had  a  romp  with  "little  John"  for  the  rest  of  the 
day.  They  raked  the  leaves  from  the  lawn,  and  when  they 
had  finished  he  said  to  the  son  :  "  Now,  keep  the  leaves 
nicely  raked  off  from  the  lawn  while  papa  is  gone." 


408  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Saturday  evening  at  eight  o'clock  he  left  for  Boston  to 
fill  a  series  of  engagements  in  Massachusetts  and  New  York. 
As  was  his  usual  custom,  he  telegraphed  friends  in  Chicago 
and  other  points  along  the  line  of  his  journey  to  meet  him 
at  the  railroad  stations  arid  discuss  with  him  plans  of  work 
in  which  they  were  mutually  interested. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  shadow  of  the  coming  change 
upon  him  as  he  started  on  this  last  journey.  During  the 
single  day  he  remained  at  home  his  spirits  seemed  more 
than  usually  buoyant,  as  he  contemplated  the  rest  he  had 
determined  to  reserve  for  himself  at  the  close  of  the  period 
of  exacting  labor  demanded  by  the  political  campaigns  in 
which  he  had  promised  to  aid. 

He  joyfully  promised  wife  and  boy,  as  he  bade  them 
good-by,  that  he  would  be  home  immediately  after  the 
November  elections. 

Reaching  Boston  at  9.35  A.M.  on  Monday,  October  3d,  he 
went  directly  to  the  Adams  House,  where  he  made  his  head- 
quarters whenever  his  work  called  him  to  New  England. 

He  wrote  to  Mrs.  Finch,  "  I  am  here  safe  and  sound. 
The  trip  was  rather  pleasant." 

During  the  forenoon  he  visited  the  offices  of  the  Pro- 
hibition Party  State  Committee,  meeting  many  prominent 
party  workers,  and  conversing  about  future  political  cam- 
paigns. 

"  How  is  your  health  now?"  asked  Edward  Carswell, 
when  he  met  Mr.  Finch  at  prohibition  headquarters. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINC8.  409 

"Never  better  in  my  life,"  Mr.  Finch  replied,  empha- 
sizing the  hearty  declaration  by  rising  and  striking  his  chest 
so  vigorously  with  his  fist  that  many  a  stronger  man  might 
have  shrank  from  receiving  such  a  blow. 

"  It  is  well  we  cannot  see 
What  the  end  will  be." 

His  apparent  confidence  in  his  physical  powers  inspired 
all  who  saw  him  with  a  like  confidence.  And  yet  beneath 
the  sanguine  seeming  there  may  have  lurked  a  vague  and  hard- 
ly recognized  premonition  that  he  might  not  live  many  days. 

He  also  visited  the  office  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  where  he 
saw  leading  Massachusetts  Good  Templars,  and  chatted 
familiarly  concerning  the  work  and  prospects  of  the  Order. 
He  dined  with  his  friend,  B.  R.  Jewell,  Secretary  of  the 
Massachusetts  Total  Abstinence  Society,  and  during  the 
meal  spoke  of  the  campaign  of  1888,  and  of  General  Fisk  as 
the  strongest  man  the  Prohibition  Party  could  nominate. 

In  the  afternoon  he  remained  in  his  rooms  at  the  Adams 
House,  where  he  received  numerous  friends  and  enter- 
tained them  with  his  genial  conversation. 

Mr.  Finch  had  been  advertised  to  speak  at  Lynn  Monday 
evening  ;  Lawrence,  Tuesday  ;  Medford,  Wednesday,  and 
Monson,  Thursday. 

Before  leaving  for  Lynn,  twelve  miles  from  Boston,  on 
the  Eastern  Railroad,  Mr.  Finch  requested  Frank  P.  Dyer 
to  give  a  verbal  message  to  Mr.  Roberts. 


410  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B. 

11  You  can  tell  him  yourself  to-morrow,"  remarked  Mr. 
Djer. 

"  We  know  nothing  about  to-morrow  ;  you  be  sure  and 
tell  him,"  answered  Mr.  Finch. 

He  was  accompanied  to  Lynn  by  Mr.  Pratt,  a  Boston 
Prohibitionist,  who  desired  to  hear  the  address.  Mr.  Finch 
bought  an  evening  paper,  and  on  entering  the  car,  glanced 
over  it  hastily  to  catch  the  latest  news,  after  which  he 
fell  into  an  earnest  conversation  with  his  companion.  He 
spoke  of  the  influences  which  were  prompting  the  Southern 
people  to  espouse  the  principle  of  prohibition,  and  analyzed 
the  different  social  conditions  of  the  Northern  States  and  the 
influences  at  work  concentrating  public  attention  upon  the 
evils  of  the  liquor  traffic,  arid  upon  measures  for  the  sup- 
pression of  these  evils  by  the  removal  of  their  cause. 

At  the  railroad  station  in  Lynn  a  delegation  of  local 
workers  and  personal  friends  were  in  waiting  to  escort  Mr. 
Finch  to  the  hall,  where  other  acquaintances  had  gathered 
in  the  anteroom  to  welcome  their  honored  leader.  He  had 
never  exhibited  more  life  and  spirits  than  in  the  few  mo- 
ments the  little  company  in  the  anteroom  engaged  in  pleas- 
ant conversation,  while  waiting  for  the  audience  to  assemble. 

When  the  hour  arrived,  more  than  fifteen  hundred  peo- 
ple were  packed  in  the  hall.  By  some  inadvertence  the 
chairman  of  the  meeting  neglected  to  call  upon  the  minister, 
who  had  been  invited  to  the  platform  for  the  purpose  of 
opening  the  meeting  with  prayer.  After  being  introduced 


THE   LYNN   AUDITORIUM   WHERE   JOHN  B.    FINCH   MADE   HIS   LAST   ADDRESS. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH.  413 

to  the  audience,  Mr.  Finch  rose  and  said,  gently  and  rev- 
erently : 

"  The  principles  of  our  party  and  its  methods  are  such 
that  we  can  go  to  God  for  His  blessing.  I  therefore  call 
upon  Rev.  Alexander  Dight  to  offer  prayer." 

During  the  prayer  Mr.  Finch  stood  with  bowed  head  ; 
when  it  was  finished  he  commenced  his  address.  As  an 
answer  to  the  pastor's  prayer,  he  seemed  anointed  with  the 
chrism  of  truth.  Never  before  had  the  marvellous  magic 
of  voice  and  eye,  with  his  fervid,  eloquent  words,  wrought 
such  miracles  of  conviction  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers. 
Every  listener  saw  that  the  speaker's  deep  earnestness  could 
only  come  from  unwavering  faith  in  the  truth  of  his  words 
and  the  righteousness  of  his  cause.  The  living  faith  that 
thrilled  through  every  nerve  and  fibre  of  his  being  could 
not  fail  to  wake  responsive  chords  in  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers. 

Unfortunately,  a  complete  short-hand  report  of  this  ad- 
dress was  not  taken.  A  stenographer  present  made  some 
notes  for  his  own  use,  and  portions  of  the  speech  have  been 
preserved  and  are  here  given.  Mr.  Finch  said  : 

' '  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  It  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  again 
visit  Lynn,  and  especially  so  as  I  have  heard  of  the  wonderful  work 
going  on  in  your  city  in  the  last  few  weeks.  The  party  which  I  repre- 
sent believes  in  all  lines  of  educational  work,  in  order  to  prepare  for  a 
government  by  the  people,  of  the  people,  and  for  the  people.  The  safety 
of  the  Government  lies  in  the  morals  and  intelligence  of  the  great 
masses  of  the  people  who  record  their  opinion  at  the  ballot-box  ;  so 


414  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

to-night  I  ask  you  to  travel  over  in  a  measure  familiar  ground,  because 
the  oftener  we  go  back  to  primary  principles  the  nearer  we  will  get 
right. 

"  Early  in  the  history  of  the  Kepublic  the  public  bar-room  was  so 
apparent  as  a  political  force  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  take  means 
to  repress  it.  As  a  school  of  vice  and  crime  its  danger  was  so  much  felt 
that  in  several  colonies  war  was  made  upon  it.  Our  forefathers  felt  that  a 
government  of  the  people  must  rest  upon  the  intelligence  and  morals  of 
the  people.  They  saw  that  the  grog-shop  beggared  womanhood  and 
childhood,  so  they  reached  down  a  restraining  hand  on  these  vicious 
tendencies.  Between  1847  and  1855  the  people  became  so  alarmed  that 
they  outlawed  it  in  eleven  States  ;  and  I  am  here  to  say  that  if  the  Civil 
War  had  not  intervened  there  would  not  have  been  a  legalized  bar-room 
to-day  in  this  country.  But  at  that  time  another  evil  came  to  the  front. 
It  became  tyrannical  in  its  demands,  and  in  1861  put  its  hand  on  the 
throat  of  this  Eepublic  ;  and  then  all  other  questions  stood  to  one  side. 

"  An  ancient  writer  has  said  that  the  moral  men  of  a  nation  are  its 
patriots.  The  bad  men  are  its  bounty-jumpers  and  dead-beats.  The 
bad  men  stayed  back.  When  the  cannon  fired  on  Fort  Sumter,  there 
was  not  a  church,  school-house,  or  home  that  did  not  feel  the  impulses 
of  patriotism.  There  were  churches  wanting  pastors,  there  were  school- 
houses  without  teachers,  but  did  you  know  of  a  single  grog-shop  that 
shut  up  on  account  of  the  war  ?  No.  That  was  the  time  when  vice 
nourished.  Why?  Because  the  moral  men  were  at  the  front.  And 
when  at  last  peace  settled  over  the  Eepublic  the  grog-shops  had  in- 
creased, and  they  had  throttled  the  law  in  five  States.  It  was  at  thig 
time  that  the  Brewers'  Congress  came  into  existence. 

"  The  war  closed,  and  the  boys  came  back.  Then  what  ?  The  tem- 
perance men  looked  for  their  movement,  and  it  was  gone.  They  then 
called  the  attention  of  the  leading  men  of  this  country  to  the  fact  that 
the  grog-shops  and  houses  of  ill-fame  had  increased.  The  leading  men 
said  :  '  In  regard  to  this  thing,  we  know  that  you  are  right,  but  you  must 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  415 

wait  until  we  have  reconstructed  the  South.'  Did  we  protest  ?  No. 
We  said,  '  We  will  wait  until  you  have  settled  the  Southern  question, ' 
Even  when  they  put  drinking  men  on  their  tickets,  we  voted  for  them. 
They  gave  us  political  notes,  and  we  have  this  political  paper  to-day, 
and  it's  not  worth  five  cents  on  the  political  dollar. 

"  The  negligence  of  statesmen  is  the  opportunity  of  demagogues. 
Gentlemen,  you  will  never  cure  a  cancer  by  putting  a  plaster  over  it, 
and  if  a  competent  physician  does  not  go  to  the  root,  a  quack  will  try 
his  hand  ;  and  he  will  be  liable  to  do  harm.  Suppose  some  one  is 
taken  sick  in  this  hall.  You  call  for  a  physician.  No  one  presents 
himself.  A  quack  makes  his  appearance  and  offers  his  services.  Do 
you  reject  him  ?  No.  In  case  of  sickness  you  are  ready  to  look  any- 
where for  help.  This  country  has  become  again  and  again  sick  because 
our  physicians  don't  do  anything.  See,  as  I  saw  in  Chicago,  a  bomb 
thrown  and  seven  dead  policemen  picked  up  after  the  bursting  ;  and  in 
St.  Louis  men  shot  down  in  the  railroad  strike,  and  tell  me  there  is 
nothing  the  matter  with  the  labor  problem  of  the  country  !  The  labor, 
prohibition,  and  monopoly  questions  have  to  be  met. 

"  The  farmers  of  the  West  went  up  to  Congress,  and  said  :  We 
want  a  chance  to  put  our  pork  on  the  market  at  rates  we  can  live 
apon.  Mr.  Stanford,  as  a  witness  in  the  Pacific  Railroad  investigation, 
said  that  his  rule  was  to  charge  the  rates  that  the  traffic  would  bear.  So 
you  see  that  if  the  price  of  corn  should  rise  the  farmer  does  not  get  the 
benefit.  The  railroads  raise  the  price  of  transportation.  This  same 
Stanford  in  a  United  States  Court  refused  to  answer  what  he  spent 
$68,000  for  ;  when  the  evidence  was  very  strong  that  it  went  for  bribery, 
he  forgot.  And  when  the  court  was  requested  by  the  prosecuting  at- 
torney to  compel  him  to  answer,  it  replied  that  it  could  not.  The  farmers 
of  the  West  of  this  country  have  got  done  making  Jay  Gould  or  Stanford 
millionaires,  and  they  are  done  putting  such  men  in  Congress. 

"  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  withdrew  the  troops  from  the  South  and  said, 
Eeconstruction  is  accomplished.  Then  the  temperance  people  went  and 


416  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

said  to  the  leading  men,  '  Settle  this  question  now.'  Would  not  you 
have  thought  that  they  would  have  attended  then  ?  But  no.  They 
said:  'If  you  kick  us  out  you  will  undo  all  we  have  done.'  And  so 
through  their  putting  it  off  the  country  to-day  stands  face  to  face  with  a 
great  social,  industrial,  and  labor  problem. 

"  When  a  government  raises  more  money  from  its  people  than  it 
needs,  it  is  a  poor  government.  How  do  existing  parties  stand  to-day  ? 
Mr.  Carlisle  says  one  thing,  Mr.  Randall  says  another,  Democrats  of 
Georgia  wanting  one  thing,  Democrats  of  Massachusetts  wanting  another. 
Can  you  tell  me  how  a  license  Democrat  of  this  State  can  pull  in  the 
harness  with  a  prohibition  Democrat  of  Georgia  ?  Can  you  tell  me  how 
a  prohibition  Republican  of  Iowa  can  stand  cheek  by  jowl  with  a  rum 
Republican  of  Illinois,  who  demands  that  no  laws  shall  be  made  in 
regard  to  Sunday  selling  ?  The  platforms  of  the  parties  read  both  ways. 
If  you  have  seen  a  political  platform  that  did  not  have  as  many  sides  as 
a  rolling-pin,  I  would  like  to  see  it. 

"  A  Republican  once  said  to  me,  '  I  want  you  to  understand  that  we 
saved  the  country.'  I  said,  '  I  am  glad  that  you  did,  but  you  don't  seem 
to  realize  it  and  want  to  keep  on  saving  it.  Tell  me  what  you  are 
going  to  do,  not  what  you  have  done.  What  are  you  going  to  do 
for  my  boy  ? '  This  question  must  be  met,  and  must  not  be  put  off. 
The  labor  question,  the  temperance  question,  and  the  monopoly  question 
must  be  met ;  and  you  cannot  wiggle  out  of  it.  There  is  no  law  more 
general  than  this  one  :  that  every  political  privilege  takes  with  it  a  duty. 

"Don't  forget  that  there  are  no  rights  without  duties.  The  men  of 
Massachusetts  once  said  :  '  We  grant  that  you  are  king,  but  it  is  your 
duty  to  govern  us,  and  investigate  all  public  wrongs  and  abuses. '  And 
when  George  III.  refused,  they  said  that  a  failure  to  perform  political 
duty  takes  away  political  right.  That  is  all  your  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence means.  They  took  the  crown  from  the  head  of  the  king,  and 
placed  it  upon  the  voters  of  this  country,  and  we  inherited  its  duties. 
The  rights  of  freemen  make  the  duties  of  freemen.  A  man  once  told 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  417 

me  that  he  had  not  voted  for  ten  years.  I  said  that  I  would  not  adver- 
tise myself  as  a  political  dead-beat.  The  Government  asks  that  you 
should  investigate  and  put  on  record  your  opinion.  I  do'  believe  that  in 
these  Eastern  States  political  dead-headism  is  the  curse  of  the  country. 
And  it  rests  chiefly  upon  the  good  men  and  business  men.  Public 
opinion  is  collected  in  the  ballot-box  one  day  in  the  year.  A  man's 
ballot  is  his  honest  and  conscientious  opinion  of  public  matters  and 
men.  It  is  not  only  his  right,  but  his  duty  to  investigate.  An  election 
is  simply  a  trial  of  issues,  and  it  is  a  man's  duty  to  vote.  I  am  not 
saying  how  you  should  vote,  but  vote  as  your  reason  dictates.  A  man 
once  said  to  me,  '  I  belong  to  the  Republican  Party.'  I  told  him  that 
the  party  had  a  pretty  poor  piece  of  property.  I  don't  belong  to  any 
party.  I  am  a  member  of  a  party,  and  when  my  party  wiggles  and  twists 
on  a  great  question,  I  will  get  out  of  it  and  help  defeat  it. 

"  A  gentleman  said  to  me  once,  '  Between  two  evils,  would  you  not 
choose  the  least?'  I  said,  'What?  Say  that  again.'  I  then  said: 
'  Supposing  you  went  into  a  restaurant  and  asked  for  a  glass  of  lemonade 
and  wanted  an  egg  in  it,  and  the  proprietor  should  say  :  "  I  have  but 
two  eggs  ;  one  is  rotten  and  the  other  spoiled — which  will  you  have?" 
what  would  you  say  to  him  ?'  After  scratching  his  head,  he  said  :  '  I 
think  I  would  tell  him  I  would  wait  until  the  hen  laid  again.' 
Now,  politically,  had  you  not  better  wait  until  a  new  egg  is  laid  ? 
The  most  damnable  doctrine  that  is  in  existence  to  stand  upon  is, 
'  Between  two  evils,  choose  the  least. '  I  want  the  boys  to  be  taught 
to  do  right  because  it  is  right  to  do  right,  even  if  they  live  on  the  Cana- 
dian line.  I  want  the  girls  to  think  that  the  sin  is  in  the  doing,  not 
in  the  being  found  out.  A  prominent  temperance  man  said  in  this 
State  in  a  public  meeting,  '  We  are  going  up  to  the  Legislature  to 
ask  for  constitutional  prohibition.  If  we  don't  get  that  we  shall  ask 
for  a  better  license  law,  and  if  we  can't  get  that,  we  will  ask  for  the 
enforcement  of  the  present  law.'  You  can  imagine  which  he  would  get. 
It  reminds  me  of  a  boy  who  was  sent  to  a  fair  to  sell  a  horse,  and  being 


418  THE  LIVE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH. 

asked  what  the  price  was,  said  :  '  Father  told  me  to  get  $100,  and  if  I 
couldn't  get  that,  take  $80,  and  if  I  couldn't  get  that,  take  $60.' 
When  we  will  make  up  our  minds  what  is  right,  and  stand  by  the  right, 
men  who  want  votes  will  want  ours. 

"  Let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  difference  between  things  before 
the  war  and  to-day.  The  truth  is,  that  the  liquor  business  that  we  are 
fighting  to-day  is  a  thing  of  recent  origin.  The  grog-shop  before  the 
war  was  the  drug-store  or  tavern  or  grocery.  It  was  a  side-show  of 
another  business  The  liquor  business  is  the  only  business  where  a  bad 
character  is  better  than  a  good  one.  Which  grog-shops  are  the  better 
patronized  ?  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  a  man  who  gets  a  reputation  as  a  bad 
man,  especially  as  a  fighter — such  as  Sullivan,  Ryan,  and  Sheedy — gets 
the  trade  ?  Then  it  is  a  business  that  does  not  require  much  business 
experience.  In  any  other  business  a  man  must  be  a  business  man, 
understanding  book-keeping  and  every  branch  of  a  complex  trade  in 
order  to  be  successful.  But  the  liquor  business  is  a  cash  one.  Fre- 
quently the  grocer  is  obliged  to  give  credit,  while  some  of  his  cus- 
tomers pay  cash  for  liquor.  All  a  liquor-dealer  need  know  is,  how  to  pass 
out  the  bottle,  make  change  so  as  not  to  cheat  himself,  and  have  strength 
to  throw  out  an  unruly  customer.  We  have  in  this  country  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  in  the  retail  liquor  trade,  and  they 
are  there  simply  to  make  money.  No  man  ever  went  into  it  as  philan- 
thropist. They  have  gilded  saloons  with  mirrors,  a  centre-table  with  all 
the  newspapers,  games,  billiards,  music,  and  even  advertise  for  girls 
'  for  easy,  lucrative  positions,'  and  hire  them  as  waitresses  in  low-neck 
dresses  to  entice  our  country  lads  who  go  into  the  city.  They  have  long 
ago  learned  what  John  Morrissey,  that  great  statesman,  learned,  when 
he  introduced  a  bill  to  prevent  gambling  in  New  York  State.  When 
some  of  the  gamblers  said  to  him,  '  John,  you  will  ruin  our  business,' 
he  said  :  '  Can't  you  see  that  the  people  demand  a  law  of  this  kind, 
and  will  have  it  ?  We  will  give  them  the  law,  and  we  will  take  care 
of  the  officers.'  He  knew  that  a  law  in  the  hands  of  its  enemies 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  419 

never  was  and  never  would  be  enforced.  Suppose  that  at  the  end  of 
the  war  you  had  elected  Jeff  Davis  President  of  the  United  States,  do 
you  imagine  that  reconstruction  would  have  been  carried  through  by 
him? 

"  To-day,  if  I  could  pass  a  prohibition  law  in  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  I  could  not  put  officers  in  power  in  sympathy  with  it,  I  would 
not  pass  the  law,  because  people  would  say  that  the  law  is  a  failure,  when 
the  failure  would  not  be  due  to  the  law,  but  to  the  perjured  rascals  who 
swore  to  enforce  the  law  and  did  not.  The  naked  sword  of  justice  in  the 
hands  of  a  determined  party  is  the  only  instrument  that  will  bring  the 
desired  result.  My  [Republican  friends,  what  was  your  argument  from 
1870  to  1886  ?  It  was :  Keep  us  in  power  who  have  made  the  law  if  you 
want  it  enforced.  We  went  all  over  this  State  in  the  snow  and  slush, 
and  the  women  got  a  big  petition  asking  that  the  people  might  have  a 
chance  to  express  their  will  on  this  question  of  constitutional  prohibi- 
tion. But  up  at  the  State  House  they  said  :  'We  give  you  leave  to  take 
that  petition  out-doors.'  The  [Republican  Party  cries  out  against  ballot- 
box  stuffing  in  the  South,  but  why  did  not  the  Republican  Party  of 
Michigan  investigate  the  frauds  of  that  State,  where  2200  votes  were  cast 
against  the  constitutional  amendment  in  a  county  where  there  were  only 
1600  voters  ? 

"  My  friends,  you  have  won  the  last  constitutional  victory  you  will  win 
until  you  have  broken  the  back  of  the  existing  political  forces  of  this 
country.  I  stand  here  to-night  to  say  that  so  great  is  the  organized 
liquor  interest  of  this  country  that  it  is  a  political  crime  for  an  honest 
Christian  man  to  be  put  in  nomination.  I  was  stumping  the  State  of 
Ohio  once  for  a  Methodist  as  Governor,  and  there  was  another  Method- 
ist running  as  a  candidate  for  Governor.  I  met  him  on  a  railroad  train, 
and  he  said  :  '  Mr.  Finch,  what  are  you  down  here  for  working  against 
me  ?  '  I  said,  '  You  are  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  are  you 
not  ? '  He  said,  '  Yes.'  I  said,  '  I  want  you  to  understand  that  it  is  a 
political  crime  to  be  a  Christian.'  He  said,  '  What  do  you  mean? '  I 


420  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

said,  '  You  will  have  to  go  back  on  your  religion  to  be  successful.  If 
you  will  write  a  letter  stating  that  you  will  enforce  the  Sunday  law  I'll 
leave  the  State.'  He  said,  '  Finch,  I  cannot  do  it.  It  would  defeat  me.' 
I  am  not  going  to  be  anything  politically  that  I  can't  be  religiously. 
Once,  in  a  convention,  as  chairman  of  a  delegation,  I  offered  a  resolu- 
tion in  favor  of  the  enforcement  of  the  Sunday  law,  whereupon  a  mem- 
ber moved  that  I  be  expelled.  They  did  not  turn  me  out,  but  they  threw 
out  my  resolution.  Then  I  said  that  I  would  do  all  I  could  to  defeat 
them.  They  then  nominated  as  chief  candidate  an  intimate  friend  of 
mine,  and  said  :  '  Surely,  Finch,  you  will  not  go  back  on  the  party  ?  ' 
but  I  said,  '  Yes,  I'll  go  back  on  any  party  that  gets  between  me  and  my 
conscience.'  There  are  a  lot  of  men  that  will  do  dirty  political  work 
and  mean  tricks  for  their  party,  that  as  Christians  they  ought  not 
to  do. 

"  It  is  not  pleasant  to  sever  party  ties  and  have  your  friends  turned  to 
enemies.  But  can  we  get  anything  within  the  old  parties  ?  If  I  had  be- 
lieved that  we  could,  I  would  have  stayed  in  one  of  them.  The  old  parties 
cannot  keep  promises  when  they  make  them.  The  Democratic  dog  and 
Republican  dog  are  after  the  bone  of  offices.  What  have  they  done  ? 
Why  don't  they  fight  ?  They  cannot.  Let  the  Democratic  dog  bark  for 
free-trade  and  he  would  be  without  his  tail.  He  has  a  temperance  leg 
in  Georgia  and  a  rum  leg  in  Massachusetts.  What  holds  him  together  ? 
His  skin,  labelled  '  Hate  to  the  Republican  Party  ; '  and  if  he  should 
swallow  a  good-sized  principle,  he  would  fall  to  pieces.  The  Republican 
dog  has  a  protection  head  and  a  free-trade  tail,  a  prohibition  leg  in 
Iowa  and  a  whiskey  leg  in  Illinois.  And  they  stand  with  their  hind 
legs  to  the  future,  and  they  love  themselves  so  much  that  they  wotld 
not  change  ends  for  anything.  We  honor  both  parties  for  the  good  they 
have  done.  We  have  no  bitter  words  for  these  old  parties.  We  simply 
say  that  they  cannot  do  the  work.  My  father  worked  as  a  machinist 
until  the  muscles  became  contracted,  so  that  he  could  not  perform  any 
longer  his  work  properly.  So  I  said,  '  Father,  give  up  work  and  take 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  421 

your  ease,  and  let  us  look  after  the  business. '  Did  this  in  any  way  im- 
ply that  I  did  not  appreciate  what  father  had  done  ? 

"  I  believe  that  the  great  mass  of  the  Republicans  of  this  State  believed 
in  the  sincerity  of  the  prohibition  plank  last  year.  They  hitched  on 
their  old  machine  and  tried  to  lift  it,  but  no  ;  it  went  up  and  up  and 
up,  and  then  the  gentleman  from  Somerville  stuck  a  bottle  of  beer  in  the 
cogs,  and  the  machine  broke.  In  Congress  they  hitched  on  the  Demo- 
cratic machine  to  the  tariff  reform,  and  the  thing  went  up  and  up  and 
up  till  Sam  Randall  put  in  an  iron  bar,  and  the  thing  stopped. 

"  The  party  that  cannot  make  its  men  vote  and  keep  its  promises  is 
no  party  at  all.  It  was  the  pledge  of  the  Republican  Party  of  this  State 
to  carry  through  the  prohibition  amendment.  Why  did  they  not  call  a 
caucus  and  compel  its  passage  ?  You  say  they  could  not.  Then  their 
old  machine  is  worn  out.  A  political  party  is  a  company  of  people 
joined  together  to  carry  through  their  pledges.  A  man  who  voted 
against  the  amendment  is  in  just  as  good  standing  as  ever.  Have  you 
heard  of  any  one  of  them  being  kicked  out  ?  No.  The  party  is  so  weak 
that  it  can' t  kick  them  out.  Look  at  the  head  of  their  ticket — a  temper- 
ance man  for  Governor,  a  whiskey  man  for  Lieutenant-Governor.  If 
the  Republican  Party  was  honest,  why  did  it  not  pass  a  prohibition 
law  ?  It  surely  had  votes  enough  for  that. 

"  A  Democratic  politician  said  to  me,  with  an  oath,  '  The  trouble 
with  you  prohibition  fellows  is,  you  are  getting  the  boys. '  And  it  is  so. 
We  are  getting  the  boys.  Prohibitory  clubs  are  being  formed  in  all  the 
colleges,  and  they  are  meeting  with  great  success.  It  was  remarked  at 
the  convention  at  Syracuse  that  one  half  the  men  were  under  thirty-five. 
Yoii  can't  enthuse  the  boys  over  dry  bones,  but  you  can  enthuse  them 
over  to-day  ;  and  that  is  what  you  must  do. 

"I'm  not  going  to  impeach  the  old  parties.  Good  men  are  in  the 
wagon,  but  they  don't  hold  the  reins.  I  have  heard  that  once  there  was 
a  man  so  mean  that  he  lost  all  his  friends,  and  when  he  came  to  die  he 
left  his  money  to  a  charitable  association,  providing  they  would  furnish 


422  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  mourners.  So  they  hired  three  Irishmen  to  follow  the  hearse  with 
heads  bowed  and  not  lift  them.  Going  through  the  city,  one  of  them 
said  :  '  Mike,  I  smell  something  ;  I'm  going  to  look  up.'  The  other 
said,  '  What  do  you  care  ?  You  are  paid  to  look  down.  Now  keep 
quiet.'  But  finally  the  smell  was  so  strong  he  looked  up,  and  found 
that  in  passing  through  the  city  they  had  missed  the  hearse  and  were 
following  a  swill-cart.  Now,  you  fellows  that  followed  Lincoln,  Garri- 
son, Phillips,  and  Sumner,  and  are  now  following  such  men  as  Elkins, 
Dorsey,  and  Brackett,  are  you  quite  sure  but  that  in  this  political 
funeral  you  have  missed  the  hearse  and  are  following  some  political 
swill-cart  ? 

"But,  says  some  good  Democrat,  'Have  you  no  respect  for  the  old 
Democratic  Party  ?  '  Yes,  I  have  ;  but  the  party  is  a  good  deal  like  the 
Irishman's  hill  of  potatoes— the  best  part  under  ground.  Parties  are 
needed  with  live  questions,  and  with  live  men  to  lead  them  ;  and  there 
is  not  a  party  that  can  possibly  work  oiit  the  problems  of  to-day  and 
leave  prohibition  out  of  the  question.  The  attempt  by  the  old  parties 
to  do  this  makes  the  Prohibition  Party  a  necessity  ;  and  no  politician 
can  solve  the  problem  and  leave  the  Prohibition  Party  out  of  the  calcu- 
lation. 

"  Boys,  we  can't  offer  you  offices  ;  but  if  you  want  a  chance  to  fight 
for  mother,  home,  and  conscience,  and  against  the  grog-shop  and  mo- 
nopolies, come  with  us,  and  we  will  carry  the  banner  of  prohibition  until 
in  the  White  House  sits  a  man  -who  believes  in  the  principles  of  the  Pro- 
hibition Party." 

A  testimonial  of  the  power  of  the  speech  was  given  the 
next  evening  at  a  prayer- meeting  in  the  Christian  Church 
of  Lynn.  A  young  man  said  : 

"  Last  night  1  went  to  hear  Mr.  Finch.  When  I  went 
into  the  hall  I  was  a  Republican.  To-night  1  wish  to  lay 
my  tribute  at  the  feet  of  this  fallen  Christian  hero  of  pro- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  423 

hibition,  and  to  say  that  hereafter  I  shall  vote  the  prohibi- 
tion ticket." 

Mr.  Finch  left  the  hall  at  10  P.M.,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Pratt,  and  they  walked  to  the  depot  in  time  to  catch  the 
10.06  train  for  Boston.  Although  he  had  expended  much 
physical  force  during  the  delivery  of  the  address,  he  showed 
little  sign  of  exhaustion,  and  chatted  freely  with  his  com- 
panion during  the  half -hour  ride.  The  subject  of  conver- 
sation was  the  sacrifice  made  by  himself  and  other  young 
men  in  abandoning  old  political  parties  to  join  a  new  party. 

Massachusetts  affairs  were  discussed,  and  Mr.  Finch  said 
concerning  the  Governor  :  "  Mr.  Ames  has  been  placed 
where  he  could  immortalize  his  name,  if  he  would  only  be 
true  to  his  convictions." 

"  ISTo  man  can  be  a  truly  happy  man,"  Mr.  Pratt  re- 
marked, "  unless  he  is  true  to  his  convictions." 

"  I  have  felt  that,"  replied  Mr.  Finch  ;  "  although  it  cost 
me  as  much  sacrifice  as  it  would  cost  most  men  to  leave  my 
old  party,  1  have  been  a  freer,  happier  man  as  a  Prohibi- 
tionist than  ever  before  I  joined  the  party. " 

Arrived  at  the  Boston  depot,  the  question  was  asked  : 
"  Shall  we  ride  or  walk  up-town  ?" 

"  It's  pretty  muddy,  and  I  think  we  had  better  take  a 
cab, "  Mr.  Finch  answered  in  his  usual  tones. 

Mr.  Pratt  then  stepped  from  the  railroad  car  upon  the 
platform.  He  had  advanced  a  few  steps  toward  the  street 
when  he  felt  his  arm  grasped  convulsively,  and,  hastily 


424  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

turning,  he  saw  Mr.  Finch  gasping  for  breath,  and  caught 
him  in  his  arms,  lowering  him  gently  to  the  floor.  Not 
comprehending  the  awful  truth,  Mr.  Pratt  attempted  to 
arouse  animation  by  rubbing  his  limbs  and  body,  but  soon 
discovered  that  the  heart  had  ceased  to  beat,  and  John  B. 
Finch  was  gone. 

His  departure  was  as  painless  as  sudden.  One  or  two 
gasps  for  breath,  and  the  lips  that  had  moved  the  multitudes 
with  their  passionate  pleading  and  prayer  for  human  weal 
were  silent  forever,  and  the  princely  leader  sank  to  sleep 

"  Like  one  who  draws  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." 

"  Good-night !  good-night,  beloved, 
While  I  count  the  weary  hours." 

"  O  Time,  thou  must  untangle  this,  not  I  ; 
'Tis  too  hard  a  knot  for  me  to  untie  !" 

"  God  is  His  own  interpreter, 
And  He  will  make  it  plain." 

Friends  and  physicians  were  soon  summoned,  but  no 
earthly  aid  could  be  given.  The  body  was  taken  to  the 
undertaker's,  embalmed  and  placed  in  a  handsome  casket. 

At  three  o'clock  Wednesday  afternoon  a  short  funeral 
service  was  held,  all  the  leaders  of  temperance  work  in 
Boston  being  present.  Dr.  A.  A.  Miner  and  Dr.  A.  J.  Gor- 
don conducted  the  services.  Rev.  J.  W.  Hamilton  said  in 
his  prayer  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  425 

"  We  are  here  to  represent  the  mourning  country.  We 
thank  Thee  for  his  life.  He  has  fallen,  young  in  years, 
but  twice  as  old  in  labor.  May  we  be  a  bolder  people  and 
a  better  people  for  the  life  and  the  death  of  this  man." 

At  seven  o'clock  on  Wednesday  evening  the  party  selected 
to  accompany  the  remains  to  Evanston  left  Boston.  Frank 
P.  Dyer,  Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Prohibition 
Committee  ;  Rev.  A.  A.  Williams,  of  Lynn,  and  Charles  L. 
Abbott,  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Grand  Templars,  were  the  committee  in  charge. 

They  arrived  in  Chicago  on  Friday  morning  at  seven 
o'clock,  when  the  body  was  taken  to  an  undertaker's,  and 
thence  to  Evanston,  arriving  at  eleven  in  the  forenoon. 

Mrs.  Finch  was  so  prostrated  that  she  could  not  see  the 
remains,  or  meet  the  friends  who  had  come  from  Boston  to 
bring  home  her  illustrious  husband.  She  saw  the  remains 
but  once,  on  Saturday  morning,  and  was  unable  to  be  pres- 
ent at  the  funeral.  Such  was  her  condition  that  none  of 
the  friends  who  came  from  abroad  were  able  to  see  her, 
and,  to  their  very  great  disappointment,  they  were  com- 
pelled to  return  to  their  homes  without  clasping  her  hand. 

At  first  she  realized  the  terrible  truth  only  in  part.  Her 
mind  was  full  of  the  idea  expressed  by  the  poet, 

"  It  seems  strange,  with  so  much  gone 
Of  life  and  love,  to  still  live  on." 

After  many  days  she  rallied,  gathering  strength  from  the 


426  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

pressure  of  duty  to  the  little  son,  left  to  her  sole  guidance 
and  care. 

"  God  never  leaves  a  soul  on  earth  without  leaving  some 
work  for  it  to  do  to  keep  it  from  despair,  some  sin  to  be 
atoned  for,  some  duty  to  be  fulfilled." 

The  words  of  Longfellow  came  like  a  benison  to  her  sore 
heart : 

"  0  holy  trust !  O  endless  sense  of  rest ! 

Like  the  beloved  John 
To  lay  his  head  upon  the  Saviour's  breast, 
And  thus  to  journey  on  !" 

Among  the  hundreds  of  telegrams  received  by  Mrs. 
Finch  in  the  first  days  of  her  terrible  grief,  the  following 
voice  the  general  sentiments  of  sorrow  : 

"MAUSTON,  Wis.,  October  4,  1887. 

"  No  one  can  sympathize  with  you  more  than  I  do  since  the  receipt  of 
the  terrible  news  of  the  sudden  death  of  our  brave  leader.  How  I  love 
him  !  No  other  man  can  ever  take  his  place  in  my  affections,  or  plan  for 
the  Order  as  he  has  done.  Command  me  either  officially  or  personally 
in  this  hour  of  our  great  bereavement. 

"  B.  F.  PABKEB." 

"  HASTINGS,  NEB.,  October  4,  1887. 

"  Ten  thousand  Nebraska  Good  Templars  weep  with  you  to-day.  May 
the  God  of  the  widow  and  orphan  sustain  you  in  this  hour. 

"  ANNA  M.  SAUNDEBS, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar." 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  427 

"  FEEEPOET,  ILL.,  October  4,  1887. 

"  Accept  our  most  profound  sympathy.     May  God  sustain  you. 

"  E.  J.  HAZLETT, 

"  Or  and  Secretary. 
"GENIE  F.  HAZLETT." 

"  PACIFIC  GEOVE,  CAL.,  October  4,  1887. 

"  A  chaplet  of  laurel  and  wreath  of  immortelles  for  your  honored  hus- 
band, who  gave  his  life  that  others  might  live.  Though  dead  he  still 
lives.  Accept  sincerest  condolence  and  sympathy  of  the  Grand  Lodge 

of  California,  now  in  session. 

"  J.  M.  WALLIN, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar. 
"  GEOEGE  B.   KATZENSTEIN, 

"  Grand  Secretary." 

"  NEW  YOBK,  N.  Y.,  October  4,  1887. 

"  The  bureau  executive  extends  you  their  profoundest  sympathy  in 
this  hour  of  overwhelming  affliction. 

' '  WILLIAM  McK.  GATCHELL, 
"  Secretary  of  National  Prohibition  Lecture  Bureau." 

"  NEW  YOBK,  October  4,  1887. 

"  The  sad  news  has  just  reached  me  ;  sorrow  has  taken  possession  of 
my  soul.  Your  husband  was  a  man  among  men.  God  bless  you  in  this 

trying  hour. 

"  GEOBGE  R.  SCOTT, 

"Editor  '  Witness.'" 

"  GLASGOW,  SCOTLAND,  October  5,  1887. 

"  Psalm  46  : 1  ;  John  11  :  25. 

"  W.  W.  TTJBNBULL, 

"  jR.  W.  0.  Counsellor." 

"  God  is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble." 
"Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  :  he  that 
believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live." 


428  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  NEW  YORK,  October  5,  1887. 

"  Your  loss  is  ours,  and  not  only  ours,  but  the  nation's.  In  great 
sorrow  we  extend  heartfelt  sympathy  to  yon. 

"  MB.  AND  MBS.  K.  S.  CHEVES." 

"  LODA,  ILL.,  October  4. 
"  Accept  my  deep  sympathy  in  your  great  affliction. 

"  UBIAH  COPP,  JB., 
"  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Illinois." 

"  BLOOMTNGTON,  ILL. 

"  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Illinois  shares  your 
bereavement.  Let  us  believe  that  God  will  carry  on  the  work,  though 
he  calls  home  the  workmen.  Head  second  Timothy,  fourth  chapter, 

seventh  and  eighth  verses. 

"  MBS.  LTTCTA  B.  TYNG, 

"  MBS.  MARY  E.  HOLMES, 

"  Committee." 

"WooNsocKET,  D.  T.,  Octobers,  1887. 
"  Ourselves  and  all  Dakota  Templars  sympathize  with  you  and  Johnnie 

in  the  world's  great  loss. 

"  KANOTJSE  AND  FULSOM, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar  and  Grand  Secretary  of  Dakota." 

"BOSTON,  MASS.,  October  4,  1887. 
"  My  tearful  sympathies.     John  was  my  dear  friend.     God  bless  and 

help  you.     What  can  I  do  ? 

"JOHN  W.  CUMMINGS." 

"  LINCOLN,  NEB.,  October  4,  1887. 
"  The  nation  mourns  with  you  with  prayers  and  sympathy. 

"  H.  C.  AND  ADA  M.  BITTENBENDEB." 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  429 

"  KOCHESTER,  N.  T.,  October  5,  1887. 

"  Accept  my  heartfelt  sympathy  in  this  hour  of  your  unexpected 
bereavement.  Thousands  of  sorrowing  hearts  bow  with  yours  at  this 
sudden  call.  The  willow  bends,  the  oak  breaks.  It  was  the  oak  that 
went  down  at  Boston  last  night.  God  comfort  you  and  your  boy  with 
His  everlasting  promise.  Command  me  where  I  can  serve  you. 

"  W.  MARTIN  JONES, 

"  Past  Grand  Chief  Templar." 

"  SPBINGFIELD,  O.,  October  5,  1887. 
"  Our  hearts  bow  with  you  in  grief.     See  Numbers  6  :  24-26. 

"Mas.  H.  L.  MONBOB." 

"  NEW  YOBK,  October  4,  1887. 

"  The  swift  blow  that  has  saddened  your  household,  strikes  tears  from 
the  eyes  of  thousands  upon  thousands  of  strong  men  and  women.  May 
the  Heavenly  Father  uphold  you  and  defend  the  cause  in  whose  service 

your  husband  has  laid  down  his  life. 

"  THE  VOICE." 

"  BIRMINGHAM,  ENG.,  October  4,  1887. 

"  Accept  our  deepest  sympathy. 

"  JOSEPH  MALINS, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  England." 

"BOSTON,  MASS.,  October  4,  1887. 

"  My  dear,  God  called  him  home  suddenly  last  night. 

' '  SABAH  A.  LEONARD, 
"  Grand  Secretary  of  Massachusetts." 

"  MARSHALL,  MINN.,  October  5,  1887. 

"  Just  received  the  awful  news.    "Will  come  first  train. 

"  JOHN  SOBIESKI.  " 


430  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN.,  October  5,  1887. 

"  Minnesota's  Good  Templar  heart  bleeds  for  you  to-day.  Personally 
accept  our  deepest  sympathy  in  this  your  great  trial. 

"  H.  B.  QUICK, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar. 
"  KATE  L.  PENNIMAN, 

"  Grand  Secretary." 

"LINCOLN,  NEB.,  October  5,  1887. 

"  Lincoln  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  mourns  with  you  the 
death  of  your  noble  husband.  The  temperance  cause  has  lost  its  fore- 
most champion.  Numbers  6  :  24-26. 

"  MBS.  J.  H.  MOCKETT." 

"  BEATRICE,  NEB. 

"Pray  that  the  sacrifice  recorded  in  Ephesians  3  : 17-19  be  fulfilled 
in  you,  for  when  He  giveth  quietness,  who  then  can  make  trouble  ? 

"  THE  W.  C.  T.  U.  OF  NEBBASKA  IN  CONVENTION  ASSEMBLED." 

"  ST.  Loms,  Mo. 

"  Mrs.  Scott  joins  me  in  sincere  sympathy  in  your  great  bereavement. 

"  BOBEBT  B.  SCOTT, 

"  Past  R.  W.  G.  Treasurer" 

"  NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

"  The  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  to  our  Beloved  Sister: 
"  Our  heart  is  as  thy  heart ;  thy  sorrow  is  ours.     May  our  Father 

comfort  His  beloved. 

"  MARY  A.  WOODBBIDGE, 

"  Secretary." 

"  MlDDLEBUBY,  VT. 

"  The  Prohibitionists  of  Vermont  remember  you  in  your  great  bereave- 
ment. The  sudden  stroke  which  takes  from  you  a  loving  husband  has 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  431 

taken  from  us  a  courageous  leader  and  a  beloved  friend.     Accept  our 

sympathy. 

"  CLINTON  SMITH, 

"  Chairman  State  Commillee." 

"  BOSTON,  MASS. 
"  Deep  sympathy  and  prayers  for  yon. 

"JESSIE  FOBSYTHE, 

"  R.  W.  G.  Vice  Templar." 

"  LAKE  VILLAGE,  N.  H. 

"  The  Grand  Lodge  of  New  Hampshire,  now  in  session,  is  made  sad 
by  the  death  of  our  brother  and  distinguished  leader.     We  extend  sin- 

.  cere  sympathy  in  your  great  affliction. 

"  GEOBGE  A.  BAILEY, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar." 

"  PATEBSON,  N.  J. 
"  New  Jersey  sends  sympathy  in  your  affliction.     It  is  a  personal  loss 

to  all. 

"  GEOBGE  STAPLETON, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar." 

"  ST.  MABTIN'S,  NEW  BBUNSWICX. 
"  The  Grand  Lodge  of  New  Brunswick  extends  to  you  sympathy  in 

your  great  bereavement. 

"  W.  VAUGHAN, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar." 

"HAMILTON,  ONTABIO. 

"  Ontario  Templars,  overwhelmed  with  grief  at  the  loss  of  our  noble 
leader,  extend  heartfelt  sympathy,  praying  the  Almighty  to  have  you 

and  yours  in  His  loving  keeping. 

"  THOMAS  LAWLESS, 

"  Grand  Secretary." 


432  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  BELFAST,  IRELAND. 
"  Ireland  prays  God  may  support  yon  in  your  great  sorrow. 

"  GBAND  SECBETABY  OP  GOOD  TEMPLABS.  " 

' '  THBEE  KIVEBS,  QUEBEC. 
"  Accept  heartfelt  sympathy  of  the  Quebec  Templars  in  this  your 

bereavement  and  our  loss. 

"  R.  W.  WILLIAMS, 

"  Grand  Chief  Templar" 

"  PASADENA,  CAL. 

"  We  were  greatly  shocked  and  grieved  by  the  sad  news  of  the  death 
of  Mr.  Finch,  and  hasten  to  assure  you  of  our  deepest  sympathy.  May 
our  Heavenly  Father  sustain  yon  in  this  sad  hour. 

"  MB.  AND  MBS.  JOHN  P.  ST.  JOHN." 

"  SEABBIGHT,  N.  J. 

"  For  you  there  is  widespread  sorrow,  and  for  your  dear  dead  husband 
enduring  fame.  Mrs.  Fisk  unites  with  me  in  sincere  sympathy. 

"  CLINTON  B.  FISK." 

During  the  afternoon  of  Friday  and  all  day  Saturday 
many  beautiful  floral  pieces  were  sent  by  friends  and 
societies  from  near  and  from  distant  points. 

The  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge  Executive  Committee 
sent  a  beautiful  design  of  the  emblems  of  the  Good  Tem- 
plar Order.  This  consisted  of  a  cross  of  white  carnations 
and  Nephitos  roses,  with  an  anchor  on  one  side  and  a  heart 
on  the  other. 

A  particularly  appropriate  floral  tribute,  sent  by  the  Illi- 
nois Grand  Lodge  of  Good  Templars,  was  a  ship  of  white 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH.  433 

carnations,  tuberoses,  white  roses,  and  smilax,  with  purple 
immortelles  forming  the  words  "  Our  leader  has  fallen." 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Ohio  sent  a  beautiful  tablet  of  white 
roses  and  carnations,  with  the  touching  words,  "  We  mourn 
a  man  and  a  leader,"  in  purple  immortelles. 

A  broken  column  was  sent  by  Nebraska  Grand  Lodge 
of  Good  Templars.  It  was  composed  of  white  carnations, 
tuberoses,  and  white  roses  twined  with  smilax,  with  the 
letters  "I.  O.  G.  T.  of  Nebraska"  at  the  base. 

A  beautiful  cross  and  crown  was  sent  by  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Massachusetts. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Minnesota  sent  a  large  anchor  with 
heart  in  the  centre.  This  was  composed  of  white  carna- 
tions, Nephitos  roses,  shaded  with  Marechal  Niel  and  Pearl 
des  Jardins. 

The  Good  Templar  Lodge  of  Lincoln,  Neb.,  sent  a  cross 
and  sickle  of  white  roses  and  carnations. 

Willard  Good  Templar  Lodge  of  Evanston,  of  which 
Mr.  Finch  was  a  member,  sent  a  fine  piece,  "  The  gates 
ajar,' '  with  a  white  dove  descending. 

Banner  Lodge  of  Good  Templars  of  Chicago  sent  a  piece 
representing  the  Good  Templar  field,  "  The  World," 
with  North  and  South  America  in  purple  immortelles,  and 
a  William  Francis  Bennett  rose  representing  Chicago.  This 
rested  on  an  easel. 

E.  H.  Clapp,  of  Boston,  sent  a  regalia  of  the  usual  size, 
composed  of  white  carnations  and  tuberoses,  with  a  border 


434  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

of  smilax.  Upon  each  side  were  the  words,  "  Right  Worthy 
Grand  Templar,"  in  purple  immortelles. 

A  floral  design  from  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cheves  was  an  open 
book  with  a  crown  above  it.  The  book  was  composed  of 
white  carnations  and  Nephitos  roses,  and  the  crown  of  the 
same  flowers.  At  the  base  of  the  standard  on  which  the 
open  book  rested  was  a  cluster  of  La  France  roses.  The 
standard  was  covered  with  ivy  leaves  and  the  book  rested 
on  a  delicate  bed  of  smilax. 

From  the  Young  Ladies'  Ideal  Brass  Band  of  Mauston, 
Wis.,  was  received  a  beautiful  harp  of  white  roses,  carna- 
tions, and  tuberoses. 

The  offering  of  Miss  Frances  "Willard  and  Miss  Anna 
Gordon  was  a  cluster  of  cream-tinted  white  roses  tied  with 
a  white  ribbon. 

A  beautiful  heart  of  white  carnations  and  roses  was  sent 
by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duffy,  of  Evanston^ 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Monroe,  of  Chicago,  sent  a  very 
beautiful  tribute  of  white  immortelles,  with  the  words, 
"  Guard  the  Faith,"  in  purple. 

Among  those  from  distant  points  who  came  to  accompany 
their  lost  leader  to  his  last  resting-place,  were  B.  F.  Parker, 
R.W.  G.  S.,  of  Wisconsin;  Uriah  Copp,  R.W.G.T.,  of 
Illinois  ;  Oronhytekha,  Chairman  of  the  Literature  Com- 
mittee and  Grand  Past  Counsellor,  of  Canada  ;  E.  W. 
Chafln,  G.C.T.,of  Wisconsin  ;  J.  F.  Cleghorn,  P.G.C.T., 
C.  H.  Knight,  S.  D.  Hastings,  P.R.W.G.T.,  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  435 

A.  E.  Seymour,  of  "Wisconsin ;  A.  C.  Folsom,  G.  S., 
and  T.  D.  Kanouse,  G.C.T.,  of  Dakota  ;  H.  B.  Quick, 
G.C.T.,  of  Minnesota  ;  Charles  "Williams,  G.S.,  of  Ohio  ; 
Mrs.  A.  A.  Brookbank,  R.W.G.S.J.T.,  of  Indiana; 
Eli  Miller,  G.C.T.,  of  Indiana  ;  Professor  Samuel  Dickie, 
of  Albion  College,  Michigan  ;  George  R.  Scott,  of  the 
New  York  Weekly  Witness  •  Colonel  Long,  of  Illinois  ; 
John  Sobieski,  of  Missouri ;  Mrs.  Ada  C.  Bittenbender, 
representative  of  the  "Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  of  Lincoln,  Neb.  ;  Hon.  A.  J.  Sawyer,  Mayor  of 
Lincoln,  sent  to  represent  the  city,  by  the  citizens  of  Lin- 
coln, irrespective  of  party  ;  ex-Mayor  H.  W.  Hardy,  sent 
to  represent  the  State  Prohibition  Party  of  Nebraska  ;  R. 
R.  Randall,  sent  to  represent  the  Red  Ribbon  Club  in  Lin- 
coln ;  Charles  L.  Abbott,  G.C.T.,  representing  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Massachusetts  ;  Frank  P.  Dyer,  representing 
the  Prohibition  Party  of  Massachusetts ;  Rev.  A.  A. 
Williams,  representing  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  and  many 
others. 

The  funeral  services  at  the  house  were  opened  by  the 
Chicago  Quartet,  singing  in  an  impressive  manner  "  Come 
unto  Me,"  after  which  Rev.  Frederick  Clatworthy,  pastor 
of  the  Baptist  Church  of  Evanston,  led  in  prayer.  Dr. 
Sylvester  Jones,  pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  Evanston,  read  a  portion  of  the  impressive  burial-service 
of  the  Church,  and  Dr.  A.  J.  Jutkins  delivered  the  follow- 
ing address  : 


436  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  2  Samuel  1  :  17.  I  cannot  resist  the  impression  that  we  are  stand, 
ing  like  a  group  of  soldiers  around  a  fallen  chief.  Someway,  thoughts 
and  metaphors  relating  to  a  conflict  press  so  strongly  as  to  push  out 
other  forms  and  expressions.  It  is  an  occasion  which  focuses  so  many 
and  such  important  events  that  personal  interests,  even  those  which  are 
near  and  tender,  are  pushed  aside,  as  they  are  at  the  time  of  a  great  con- 
flict. We  cannot  lose  sight  of  the  personal  bereavement,  the  tender  rela- 
tions of  family  and  friendship,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  cannot  forget 
that  the  eyes  of  hundreds  of  thousands  are  turned  toward  this  spot 
to-day,  and  the  thoughts  of  these  are  busy  with  the  questions  suggested 
by  the  occasion. 

"However  useful  our  fallen  friend  may  have  been  in  life,  we  cannot 
think  otherwise  than  that  this  is  the  supreme  moment  for  his  influence, 
when  the  seal  of  permanency  is  set  upon  the  work  that  he  undertook. 

"  Mr.  Finch's  life,  short  as  it  was,  covered  all  the  phases  of  what  is 
known  as  the  temperance  reform,  and  which  are  now  the  subject  of 
thought  and  discussion.  "We  are  able  to  judge  of  their  comparative 
merits  by  grouping  them  in  connection  with  Mr.  Finch' s  life  and  view- 
ing them  in  the  light  of  the  present. 

' '  Ten  years  ago  the  temperance  reform  w,as  in  the  stage  known  as  the 
'  ribbon  period,'  or  a  certain  phase  of  moral  suasive  work.  It  was  argued 
that  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  could  be  entirely  suppressed  if 
the  people  steadily  refused  to  buy,  and  this  was  a  truth  too  plain  for 
discussion.  Enthusiastic  men,  like  Murphy  and  Reynolds,  and  equally 
enthusiastic  women,  like  the  crusaders  of  that  period  or  a  little  earlier, 
were  confident  that  they  had  only  to  push  forward  in  the  line  along 
which  they  were  working,  and  success  of  a  most  pronounced  and  thor- 
ough character  would  attend  their  efforts.  It  was  joyfully  proclaimed 
that  so  greatly  had  the  receipts  for  intoxicating  liquors  fallen  off  that 
the  beer  brewers  in  their  annual  meeting  were  bewailing  the  loss  of  their 
trade,  and  serious  apprehensions  were  felt,  which  embodied  themselves 
in  resolutions  and  the  appointment  of  committees  to  oppose  total 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  437 

abstinence  and  the  temperance  legislation  in  the  various  States.  This 
may  be  called,  for  the  sake  of  distinguishing  it,  the  moral  suasive  period 
of  the  reform  in  the  present  generation.  A  similar  wave  of  reform  in 
the  preceding  generation  was  called  the  Washingtonian  movement. 
Both  exhibited  the  same  characteristics  ;  both  promised  speedy  and 
peaceful  success  ;  both  utterly  failed.  I  think  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying 
that  there  is  not  a  single  thoroughly  honest  and  faithful  worker  in  this 
stage  of  the  reform,  who  kept  on  in  his  work,  but  found  himself  pushed 
forward  into  another  phase  of  the  reform,  which  we  will  presently  notice. 
Mr.  Finch  is  only  a  sample  of  others  who  have  achieved  more  or  less 
prominence  following  along  the  same  road,  and  who  have  arrived  at  the 
same  goal. 

"  The  next  phase  of  work  in  which  we  find  him  engaged  was  an  effort 
to  utilize  the  laws  already  existing.  This  is  another  method  of  work  to 
which  our  attention  is  often  called,  and  it  is  insisted  that  if  we  use  the 
laws  already  existing  we  can  accomplish  more  than  can  be  done  by  any 
legal  method.  He  tried  this  thoroughly,  as  have  his  co-workers.  He 
accomplished  what  is  usually  accomplished — namely,  awakening  the 
wrath  of  the  liquor  fraternity.  They  attacked  him  in  his  property,  his 
person,  and  his  reputation.  Upon  all  these  fields  Mr.  Finch  fought  his 
battles  just  as  literally  as  did  the  Apostle  Paul  with  the  beasts  at 
Ephesus. 

"  This  stage  of  temperance  work  is  not  likely  to  last  very  long  with 
any  earnest  and  honest  man  before  putting  him  at  something  else,  and 
that  something  else  is  the  next  thing  in  which  we  find  him  engaged — 
namely,  the  reformation  of  the  law  and  the  enactment  of  a  law  meant 
to  suppress,  not  to  embarrass  or  to  prevent  excesses,  as  is  the  case  with 
so  many  laws  on  our  statute-books.  In  the  session  of  the  Nebraska 
Legislature  of  1881,  Mr.  Finch  earnestly  championed  the  bill  to  submit 
a  prohibitory  constitutional  amendment  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  After 
this  bill  failed  to  pass,  he  gave  his  influence  toward  the  passage  of  the 
famous  high-license  law — then  an  untried  experiment.  When  one 


438  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

understands  it,  it  is  not  surprising  that  at  this  stage  of  development  Mr. 
Finch,  like  many  others,  considered  it  a  step  forward.  No  man  can  sell 
liquor  under  this  law  except  in  communities  sufficiently  depraved  to 
furnish  him  the  consent  of  thirty  freeholders  who  will  sign  his  petition. 
He  must  then  procure  citizens  who  will  give  bonds  of  $5000,  with  which 
to  pay  the  damages  resulting,  and  he  then  must  pay  $1000  license  fee. 
It  was  thoroughly  believed  that  this  law  would  close  a  large  part  of  the 
saloons  in  the  State,  while  it  would  hold  in  restraint  those  crime  centres 
in  which  the  saloons  might  survive.  For  years  Mr.  Finch  made  no  secret 
of  the  fact  that  he  was  terribly  mistaken  in  his  views.  This  seems  to 
have  been  the  only  instance  in  which  this  clear  thinker  failed  in  his  cal- 
culations as  to  the  proper  remedy  for  the  liquor  crime.  His  experience 
and  the  experience  of  those  that  stood  with  him  furnish  an  answer  com- 
plete and  triumphant  to  all  the  so-called  high-license  schemes  that  can 
be  devised.  I  cannot  but  regard  this  Nebraska  experience  as  Providen- 
tially permitted  to  enable  the  temperance  reformers  of  this  age  to  refute, 
not  in  theory,  but  as  the  result  of  actual  experience,  the  plausible  argu- 
ments given  in  favor  of  high  license.  No  such  high-license  law  as  the 
one  in  Nebraska,  for  efficiency,  has  been  proposed,  and  this  is  an  utter 
and  miserable  failure. 

"  The  next  phase  of  the  work  in  which  we  find  Mr.  Finch  engaged  is 
the  Good  Templar  organization.  He  believed  in  this  body  thoroughly. 
He  believed  in  it  because  it  educated  the  children  and  made  provisions 
to  that  end.  He  believed  in  it  because  it  brought  men  and  women 
together  upon  a  common  level,  making  no  distinction  in  their  official 
relations  or  political  power.  He  resented  always  the  thrusting  forward 
of  sex  or  race  idea  as  the  reasons  for  official  position.  In  the  Good 
Templar  Order  he  found  what  he  believed  in  this  regard.  It  affords  the 
equal  privilege  of  thought,  of  holding  official  positions,  of  speaking  and 
using  their  powers  to  the  extent  of  their  ability,  and  a  fair  interpretation 
of  his  views  cannot  be  given  without  taking  this  fact  into  account.  He 
believed  in  this  Order  because  he  observed  that  a  very  large  portion  of 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  439 

those  who  were  most  actively  engaged  in  the  temperance  work  had  been 
educated  in  the  Good  Templar  Lodge.  When  he  became  the  head  of  the 
organization  he  brought  all  his  organizing  power  to  encourage  the  Order 
and  make  it  the  most  efficient  temperance  organization  in  the  world.  It 
was  a  part  of  his  plan  to  heal  the  breach  between  the  British  and  American 
sections  at  the  earliest  possible  moment.  How  successfully  he  achieved 
this  Herculean  task  and  with  what  enthusiastic  congratulations  all  parties 
received  the  result  at  the  Saratoga  meeting  last  May,  those  who  belong 
to  the  Order  and  are  familiar  with  its  work  will  readily  attest. 

"  I  reserve  to  the  last  that  phase  of  the  work  which  has  met  with  the 
most  opposition,  and  around  which  gathers  the  largest  measure  of  inter- 
est, because  it  is  the  culmination  and  crown  of  all  his  work,  the  work 
which  is  the  logical  outcome  of  every  earnest  and  honest  thing  that  has 
gone  before  it — his  connection  with  the  Prohibition  Party.  This  may 
be  dated  from  the  year  1882,  at  the  reorganization  of  the  party,  when  the 
effort  for  a  distinct  party  propaganda  took  shape  and  form.  With  this 
effort  he  had  the  most  hearty  sympathy  and  lent  to  it  his  entire  strength. 
In  whatever  form  an  effort  was  made  to  secure  a  prohibitory  law,  you 
might  count  on  him  for  aid  to  the  full  measure  of  his  ability.  Hence  in 
Kansas  in  the  battle  for  constitutional  prohibition,  in  Iowa  during  a 
similar  fight,  as  well  as  in  every  Northern  State  where  the  effort  has 
been  made,  Mr.  Finch's  voice  has  been  raised  and  his  best  efforts  have 
been  put  forth.  But  in  all  this  there  was  a  growing  conviction  in  his 
mind  that  all  these  efforts  would  fail  because  they  did  not  measure  up 
to  the  occasion,  and  would  be  inadequate  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
work  in  hand.  The  banishment  of  the  saloon,  involving  as  it  does  the 
overthrow  of  the  liquor  traffic,  is  a  task  comparable  only  to  the  over- 
throw of  African  slavery  in  our  country.  It  is  a  grave  question  which  of 
these  two  presents  the  greatest  difficulties.  This  conviction  grew  upon 
Mr.  Finch,  as  it  does  upon  every  person  who  gives  it  the  right  of  way, 
until  his  mind  was  possessed  with  the  belief  that  not  until  the  majority 
of  the  American  people  were  organized  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing 


440  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  liquor  traffic  would  they  be  able  to  accomplish  their  aim.  It  might, 
indeed,  be  driven  out  of  this  or  that  particular  county  or  town,  shifting 
from  place  to  place,  but  when  the  tug  of  war  came  and  the  question  was 
on  driving  it  out  entirely,  it  would  be  found  that  there  was  a  malignity 
and  a  power  before  which  none  but  the  best  organized  forces  of  the  re- 
public would  be  able  to  make  a  successful  stand.  Possessed  with  this 
conviction,  Mr.  Finch  set  himself  to  the  task  of  arousing  the  American 
people  and  securing  an  answer  to  the  single  question,  '  On  which  side 
are  you  ?  '  To  bring  this  question  home  to  every  citizen  and  to  secure 
an  honest  answer  was  the  supreme  work  of  his  life  during  these  later 
years.  It  was  a  joy  to  him  to  be  able  to  take  the  question  before  the 
immense  audiences  that  greeted  him  everywhere,  and  to  look  into  the 
faces  of  the  American  people,  and  to  plead  with  them  to  give  a  candid 
answer  to  this  question.  So  fully  was  he  equipped  for  this  work  that 
few  of  us  were  able  to  believe  that  he  was  gifted  with  any  special  apti- 
tude for  political  management.  In  this,  however,  we  were  mistaken. 
He  surprisingly  measured  up  to  the  greatness  of  the  occasion  that  arose. 
In  the  St.  John  campaign  he  became  aware  that  the  most  desperate  effort 
would  be  made  to  stampede  the  prohibition  vote  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  He  realized  from  a  political  standpoint  how  disastrous  this  would 
be,  and  set  himself  to  work  with  all  his  energy  to  hold  the  vote  that  had 
been  cast  for  Mr.  Hopkins  two  years  before,  and,  if  possible,  to  make 
some  addition  to  it.  With  an  eye  single  to  this  one  purpose  he  labored, 
and  with  a  success  which,  under  the  circumstances,  constituted  one  of 
the  most  surprising  chapters  of  his  life  history.  It  was  one  of  his  char- 
acteristics that  with  so  many  appointments  and  occasions  for  work  that 
came  to  him,  far  more  than  he  could  possibly  fill,  he  selected  with  rare 
judgment  those  strategic  points  where  he  would  count  for  the  most. 

"  By  nature  Mr.  Finch  was  incisive — perhaps  we  may  say  sharp  and 
sarcastic.  A  born  leader,  he  was,  of  course,  combative,  and  it  was  not 
his  nature  to  stop  and  consider  how  he  was  hurting  his  antagonist.  In 
this  regard  he  had  probably  something  to  overcome  in  order  to  reach  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  441 

highest  level  of  effectiveness  as  an  advocate.  The  quality  to  gain  the 
attention  and  to  some  extent  the  sympathy  of  his  audience  was  not  as 
well  developed  in  him  as  in  some  speakers.  In  my  mind,  it  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  achievements  of  his  life  that  he  was  able,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  as  I  saw  him  from  time  to  time,  to  grow  more  and  more 
kindly,  gentle,  and  charitable  as  the  years  went  by.  This  was  especially 
true  during  these  last  years.  I  am  sure  that  it  must  have  been  a  subject 
of  especial  reflection  with  him,  or  he  could  hardly  have  attained  so  great 
success  in  this  direction.  His  great  forte  was  to  place  the  truth  lumi- 
nously before  his  audience.  This  tendency  and  his  success  in  this  direc- 
tion, the  seven  lectures  printed  under  the  editorship  of  the  Hon.  S.  D. 
Hastings,  and  largely  circulated  especially  among  the  Good  Templars, 
bear  abundant  evidence.  These  lectures  touch  the  subject  upon  which 
they  treat  with  the  hand  of  a  master,  and  the  clear,  unanswerable  logic 
challenges  debate. 

"  I  am  not  able  to  speak  with  any  especial  definiteness  and  certainty 
upon  the  religious  views  of  Mr.  Finch,  perhaps  because  we  were  too 
much  alike — both  too  reticent  upon  some  subjects.  He  seemed  to  have 
been  cast  in  the  order  of  Providence  into  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
became  a  member  of  it  before  he  left  New  York.  I  judge  that  he  was 
not  actively  identified  with  the  Church  during  his  residence  in  Nebraska. 
When  he  removed  to  Evanston,  he  gave  his  name  to  Dr.  Kidgaway  as  a 
probationer  in  the  Methodist  church  in  this  place.  These  facts  lead  us 
to  believe  that  Mr.  Finch  regarded  the  Methodist  Church  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  religious  truth  which  he  in  the  main  preferred.  I  venture  to 
believe  that  his  admiration  for  much  which  passes  for  religion  in  our 
times  was  not  of  a  very  high  order.  Indeed,  I  regard  it  as  a  matter  of 
wonder  that  he  and  many  others  did  not  drift,  as  did  the  old  anti-slavery 
reformers,  many  of  them,  into  positive  hostility  to  the  Church.  I  am 
able  to  account  for  it  only  when  I  remember  that  it  fell  out  under  the 
good  providence  of  God  that  Mr.  Finch  and  his  fellow-laborers  were 
brought  into  close  contact  with  some  very  remarkable  women,  who  com- 


442  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

bined  with  rare  intellectual  power  and  intense  earnestness  in  temper- 
ance work,  an  intense  religious  spirit.  In  one  way  and  another,  Mr. 
Finch  was  brought  into  especially  close  contact  with  this  group  of 
women.  I  am  persuaded  that  they  influenced  him  more,  perhaps,  than 
he  was  aware  of.  He  was  brought  into  circumstances  that  exhibited 
whatever  was  best  and  most  sympathetic  with  himself,  among  active 
Church  people.  I  account  it  one  of  the  especial  providences  of  God 
that  the  temperance  reform  in  its  present  aspect  has  been,  as  I  believe, 
kept  from  following  the  track  of  Garrison,  Phillips,  Parker,  Leroy 
Sunderland,  and  so  many  others  of  that  olden  time  of  the  slave  power, 
which  has  now  become  historic.  All  the  conditions  are  favorable  for 
driving  off  into  hostility  to  the  Church  the  earnest  workers  for  prohibi- 
tion. There  is  the  same  rigid  conservatism  that  can  never  have  signs 
and  wonders  enough.  There  is  the  same  pitiful  apology  for  non-action, 
the  same  exasperating  misrepresentations  which  were  the  burden  of  the 
anti- slavery  reformers  in  the  first  half  of  our  century.  And  what  makes 
this  so  much  the  worse,  the  sinning  now  is  against  light  and  knowledge. 
No  such  precedent  had  been  established  for  the  anti-slavery  reformers 
as  has  been  established  for  us  in  our  times.  Step  by  step  the  prohibi- 
tion reform  puts  on  the  same  aspect  that  the  anti-slavery  reform  put  on. 
History  repeats  itself  with  a  fidelity  that  is  sickening  in  its  worst  aspects, 
but  also  inspiring  on  its  bright  side.  All  these  things  Mr.  Finch  saw 
with  perfect  clearness,  and  yet  constantly  grew  more  and  more  kindly 
in  his  feelings  toward  the  Church  and  Church  people.  Neither  in  private 
conversation  nor  in  public  discourse  did  he  assume  the  attitude  of  de- 
nunciation. This  was  not  by  any  means  because  he  was  indifferent,  and 
I  can  only  attribute  it  to  growing  patience,  the  patience  which  was  by 
no  means  natural  to  him,  and  entirely  out  of  harmony  with  his  impet- 
uous nature. 

"  Mr.  Finch  represented  in  his  own  person  the  ideal  temperance  man 
of  1887.  He  was  a  diligent  worker  in  all  the  lines  of  moral  suasion 
work.  His  selected  organization  was  the  Order  of  Good  Templars.  He 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  443 

believed  in  it,  and  gave  it  his  best  energies.  But  he  also  had  a  good 
word  for  any  other  method  of  work.  Among  his  closest  friends  was  Dr. 
Eugene  Clapp,  of  Boston,  the  head  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  and  if 
Miss  Willard  were  here  she  would  testify  to  the  cordial  relations  existing 
between  herself  and  Mr.  Finch.  But  when  all  was  done  that  could  be 
through  appeals  to  the  conscience  and  personal  interest,  if  the  sacred 
function  of  government  as  it  is  intrusted  to  American  citizens  is  not 
exerted  to  suppress  the  liquor  traffic,  it  is  building  an  arch  and  leaving 
the  key-stone  out.  To  work  for  temperance,  or  even  for  prohibition,  no 
matter  how  diligently,  and  then  vote  for  the  parties  which  stand  for 
license,  was  to  his  mind  so  gross  an  inconsistency  as  to  be  relieved  from 
the  character  of  crime  only  by  an  equally  gross  ignorance.  For  a  man 
to  sin  was  bad  enough,  but  for  a  great  and  wise  people,  with  Christian 
teachers  by  the  thousands,  to  seriously  enact  into  law  a  system  so  in- 
fernal as  the  saloon  system  of  this  country,  and  for  a  price  let  loose  on 
the  American  youth,  an  army  of  tempters  two  hundred  thousand  strong, 
supplied  with  the  most  seductive  and  potent  instrument  of  ruin  ever 
discovered  by  man,  seemed  to  him  an  enormity  passing  all  bounds.  Yet 
he  did  not  rant  and  defeat  his  purpose  by  passionate  denunciation. 
Patiently  he  waited  the  opening  of  the  seals.  He  was  sure  that,  as  in 
1856,  so,  before  very  long,  the  break  would  come,  and  the  good  citizens 
would  be  found  on  the  right  side.  Like  a  thoroughly  self  possessed 
watchman  who  discovers  a  fire  in  his  premises,  he  set  himself  to  the  task 
of  putting  it  out  with  all  the  means  at  his  disposal. 

' '  His  life  was  short,  but  he  was  permitted  to  accomplish  more  than 
most  men  who  live  twice  as  long.  He  was  doing  what  he  felt  to  be  a 
dnty,  and  it  was  a  duty  which  all  the  time  pushed  him  nearer  to  God. 
His  last  letter  had  in  it  two  letters  he  rarely  used,  and  with  his  hatred 
of  cant  they  had  meaning  ;  '  I  will  be,'  he  said,  '  in  such  a  place,  D.  V.' 

' '  Well  may  we  exclaim,  '  The  beauty  of  Israel  is  slain  on  the  high 
places.'  How  are  the  mighty  fallen.  Take  him  for  all  in  all,  it  will  be 
long  before  we  shall  see  his  peer." 


444  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

After  the  address  all  present  were  permitted  to  look  upon 
the  silent  face,  so  life-like  that  it  seemed  he  must  soon 
waken  to  resume  his  work. 

Four  Grand  Chief  Templars,  E.  W.  Chafin,  of  Wis- 
consin, H.  B.  Quick,  of  Minnesota,  Charles  L.  Abbott,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  Eli  Miller,  of  Indiana,  together  with 
four  representatives  of  the  Prohibition  Party,  S.  H.  King, 
of  Nebraska,  Samuel  Dickie,  of  Michigan,  George  R.  Scott, 
of  the  New  York  Pioneer,  and  J.  A.  Yan  Fleet,  of  the 
Lever,  acted  as  pall-bearers. 

The  funeral  cortege  proceeded  to  Rose  Hill  Cemetery  in 
carriages.  Under  the  charge  of  George  C.  Christian,  who 
directed  the  services  at  the  vault,  several  hundred  Good 
Templars,  wearing  regalia,  were  drawn  up  in  line  on  either 
side  of  the  avenue,  when  the  carriages  arrived  from  Evans- 
ton. 

Mr.  Finch  had  expressed  the  desire  to  be  buried  with  the 
Good  Templar  ceremonies  and  in  a  quiet  and  unostentatious 
manner. 

Agreeably  to  his  wishes,  the  impressive  Good  Templar 
burial-service  was  read  by  Dr.  Oronhyatekha,  P.R.W.G.C., 
Samuel  D.  Hastings,  P.R.W.G.T.,  and  Theodore  D.  Ka- 
nouse,  P.R.W.G.T. 

Short  addresses  were  made  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Williams  and 
Frank  P.  Dyer,  of  Massachusetts,  Samuel  Dickie,  of  Michi- 
gan, and  George  R.  Scott,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Scott  said  : 

' '  I  am  here  to  keep  a  promise  made  to  Mr.  Finch.    One 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH.  445 

Sabbath  morning,  while  standing  near  the  tomb  that  con- 
tained the  body  of  President  Garfield,  an  agreement  was 
made  between  our  brother  and  myself,  that  the  one  who 
should  survive  would  attend  the  funeral  of  the  other. 

"  As  Mr.  Finch  never  broke  a  promise  he  made  me,  I 
could  not  break  the  solemn  one  made  him.  I  loved  the 
deceased  because  he  was  a  manly  man,  a  kindly  man  ;  true 
to  his  friends  and  honest  to  his  enemies.  The  lesson  of  the 
occasion  is  so  to  live  that  when  death  comes,  we  shall  be  all 
ready  to  meet  the  great  change. " 

The  remains  were  then  placed  in  the  vault,  and  the  sor- 
rowing friends  in  sad  procession  returned  to  their  homes. 

Rest,  noble  chieftain,  thy  warfare  is  done  ; 

The  world  will  be  better  for  what  thou  hast  wrought, 
And  many  a  battle  for  God  will  be  won 

Because  of  the  truth  and  the  right  that  ye  taught. 

Best,  brother,  rest,  in  that  city  of  silence, 

Whose  seal  on  thy  lips  is  eternally  set. 
There  lingers  a  sound  of  thy  voice  in  the  battle, 

And  temperance  legions  will  follow  it  yet. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

IN   MEMORIAM. 

the  day  of  the  funeral  in  Evanston  memorial  ser- 
vices  were  held  in  a  large  number  of  cities  and  vil- 
lages in  America  and  Great  Britain,  and  later  in  almost 
every  country  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  most  notable  of  the  services  on  Sunday,  October  9th, 
were  those  held  in  the  Opera  House  in  Lincoln,  Neb.,  and 
in  Chickering  Hall,  New  York  City. 

The  Nebraska  State  Journal,  in  its  report  of  the  Lincoln 
meeting,  says  : 

"  In  Lincoln  the  demonstration  of  grief  was  perhaps  more  marked 
than  in  any  other  city.  Lincoln  still  claimed  Mr.  Finch  as  a  citizen. 

"  In  Nebraska  his  fame  was  made  ;  in  Lincoln  he  received  the  support 
and  assistance  enabling  him  to  begin  the  work  that  brought  him  so 
prominently  before  the  nation.  To  the  temperance  people  of  this  city 
he  was  not  only  a  leader,  but  a  personal  friend.  He  had  worked  for 
their  cause  in  the  country  at  large,  and  he  had  fought  side  by  side  with 
them  in  their  local  conflicts.  The  shock  of  his  death  to  the  temperance 
army  at  large  was  severe.  It  was  doubly  felt  in  Lincoln. 

"  At  two  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon  the  Opera  House  was  completely 
filled  with  an  audience  representing  all  grades  of  society,  with  members 
of  the  various  temperance  organizations  and  churches  predominating  in 
numbers. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  447 

"  The  balcony  posts  and  private  boxes  were  tastefully  draped  in 
mourning.  The  stage  was  flanked  by  American  flags  caught  up  with 
bows  of  crape.  At  the  rear  of  the  speakers  and  musicians  was  an  im- 
mense receding  panel  with  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Finch  in  the  focus,  illumi- 
nated by  a  locomotive  headlight  hidden  in  the  scenery.  Flowers  and 
decorations  were  placed  on  other  parts  of  the  stage.  The  house  was 
darkened,  and  the  audience  was  solemnly  attentive  through  the  impres- 
sive exercises. 

"  A  song,  '  On  Jordan's  Stormy  Banks, '  was  sung  by  the  congregation 
in  opening.  A  Scripture  lesson  was  read  by  Rev.  E.  H.  Chapin,  and  a 
feeling  prayer  was  offered  by  Elder  John  T.  Smith.  '  Nearer  My  God  to 
Thee  '  preceded  the  announcement  of  the  first  speaker. 

HON.    G.    M.    LAMBEBTSON, 

United  States  District  Attorney,  whose  subject  was  '  Mr.  Finch's  Intro- 
duction to  Nebraska  as  an  Orator, '  spoke  as  follows  : 

' '  '  When  a  man  has  borne  a  leading  part  in  any  great  cause,  it  is  fit 
that  his  labors  I  e  emphasized  and  life  commemorated  by  appropriate 
memorial  exercises. 

"  '  This  tribute  should  come  not  alone  from  his  friends  and  immediate 
relatives,  prompted  by  affection,  but  from  those  who  have  felt  the  im- 
pulse of  his  thought  and  the  spur  of  his  energy  and  example.  The 
people  of  Lincoln  should  esteem  it  their  especial  privilege  to  join  in  any 
manifestation  of  regard  for  the  departed  ;  for  he  was  to  many  of  them  a 
benefactor. 

•"  '  However  we  may  differ  in  our  estimate  of  Mr.  Finch's  character, 
we  must  admit,  aye,  affirm,  that  he  did  great  good  to  this  community. 
There  are  men  in  this  audience  who  have  been  reclaimed  from  the 
thraldom  of  appetite  by  his  potent  eloquence.  There  are  wives  that  will 
bless  his  name  because  he  restored  happiness  to  the  domestic  fireside. 
There  are  sons  who  will  bless  his  memory  because  he  saved  them  from 
crime,  from  poverty,  from  misery,  from  despair.  If  the  words  of  Scrip- 


448  TUfi  LIFE  OF  JOHN  £.  FINCH. 

ture  are  always  and  forever  true,  "  that  no  drunkard  shall  ever  enter  the 
kingdom  ol  heaven,11  then  what  a  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  him  if  but  a 
single  soul  was  saved  from  a  drunkard's  doom.  Mr.  Finch  came  to  Lin- 
coln some  eleven  years  ago,  shortly  after  the  Temple  of  Honor  was 
organized  and  had  swept  this  city  in  a  whirlwind  of  reform.  Mr.  God- 
frey was  the  originator  of  that  movement,  and  there  has  never  been  a 
reform  that  has  ploughed  itself  so  deeply  into  the  public  mind  ;  and  the 
present  strong,  moral,  and  healthy  temperance  sentiment  owes  its  origin 
to  that  movement.  Mr.  Finch  was  not  in  any  sense  the  originator  of 
that  temperance  revival,  but  he  ultimately  became  a  member  of  the 
Temple  of  Honor,  and  in  the  end  largely  contributed  to  its  work.  Mr. 
Finch  came  here  as  the  apostle  of  the  Ked  Ribbon  Society.  The  Temple 
of  Honor  was  somewhat  exclusive  in  its  character,  and  shut  its  doors  for 
a  time  to  all  men  who  were  not  of  good  social  standing.  Mr.  Finch's 
work  supplemented  and  rounded  out  the  mission  of  the  Temple  of 
Honor.  He  reached  his  hand  down  into  the  gutter  and  put  on  his  feet 
many  a  man  whom  the  Temple  of  Honor  believed  past  redemption. 
His  first  appearance  in  the  old  Opera  House  marked  him  a  matchless 
temperance  orator.  His  welcome  was  enthusiastic  because  it  was  appar- 
ent that  he  was  a  host  in  himself.  Here  was  a  man  who  could  stand  in 
the  arena  of  debate  and  cope  with  all  comers.  The  old  Scotch  proverb 
"  Many  are  the  friends  of  the  golden  tongue,"  found  its  fulfilment,  for 
he  became  Lincoln's  popular  orator.  He  was  the  only  man  here  who 
was  always  sure  of  a  crowded  house.  He  possessed  a  good  voice,  digni- 
fied appearance,  matchless  courage,  and  a  good  vocabulary.  He  was 
king  in  the  realm  of  facts,  potent  in  the  touch  of  pathos,  and  irresistible 
in  his  sallies  of  humor.  He  was  always  aggressive  in  speech,  bitter  in 
denunciation,  and  at  times  downright  fanatical.  He  at  times  exhausted 
the  epithets  of  the  dictionary  in  his  condemnation  of  the  liquor  traffic. 
He  believed  with  Wendell  Phillips  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  can 
never  be  made  to  stay  and  argue  a  question  long  ;  that  they  must  be 
made  to  feel  through  the  hides  of  their  idols  ;  that  when  you  send  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  &.  FINCH.  449 

spear  into  the  rhinoceros  hide  of  a  public  man,  all  the  people  felt  it. 
Hence  he  hurt  many  a  man  with  the  diamond  point  of  a  fatal  epithet. 
As  he  turned  over  the  pages  of  our  social  life  and  saw  the  stain  Of  the 
widow's  tear,  the  stigma  of  a  wife's  disgrace,  the  blot  of  a  husband's 
dishonor,  the  crimson  spot  from  the  hand  of  a  murderer,  and  realized 
that  the  same  power  was  responsible  for  it,  and  for  three  fourths  of  all 
the  poverty,  misery,  and  crime  in  the  world,  every  fibre  of  his  being 
throbbed  resentful,  and  in  the  white  heat  of  a  righteous  indignation  his 
denunciation  of  what  he  believed  to  be  the  common  enemy  was  most 
severe  and  powerful.  He  would  not  dally  nor  parley  with  this  enemy. 
He  would  not  compromise,  he  would  accept  no  half  way  or  middle 
ground.  He  would  not  tolerate  the  license  system,  nothing  but  absolute, 
unconditional  surrender  was  his  motto.  Otherwise  it  was  a  fight  to  the 
death.  While  we  cannot  all  agree  with  him,  at  least,  I  cannot  wholly 
approve  of  his  course,  jet  we  must  all  admire  the  unconquerable  valor 
with  which  he  fought  this  good  fight,  even  to  the  end.  He  died  in  the 
harness.  That  heart  which  had  for  so  long  beaten  in  unison  with  the 
better  impulses  of  our  time  missed  a  single  beat,  and  the  tribune  of  the 
people  is  dead.  Heaven  all  at  once  became  avaricious  and  was  not  con- 
tent to  wait  for  its  human  harvest  until  the  whitening  and  bending  head 
was  bowed  to  the  earth  by  the  weight  of  years,  but  seized  him  in  the 
very  vigor  of  his  manhood.  Scientists  tell  us  that  the  human  heart, 
which  beats  so  constantly,  never  resting,  never  tiring,  if  directed  against 
the  granite  pillar,  would  wear  it  to  dust  in  the  course  of  a  single  life- 
time. The  heart  beats  of  the  lamented  dead  prompted  many  a  word  and 
deed  that  made  serious  breaches  in  the  walls  of  the  fortresses  of  the  rum 
power,  and  his  death  will  quicken  the  pulse  of  every  one  interested  in 
this  reform,  so  that  in  time  the  walls  may  be  wholly  levelled.' 

MRS.    8.    H.    KING 

next  spoke  upon  '  Mr.  Finch's  Relation  to  the  Order  of  Good  Templars.' 
She  told  of  Mr.  Finch  when  he  was  a  law  student  in  New  York  and  of 


450  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

the  inducements  held  out  by  the  Good  Templars  of  Lincoln  that  finally 
resulted  in  his  removal  to  the  West.  His  work  here  was  reviewed  at 
length,  and  many  incidents  were  related  showing  the  grandeur  of  his 
character,  the  steadfastness  of  his  purpose,  and  his  pure-hearted  unsel- 
fishness. 

"  The  hymn  '  Rock  of  Ages '  intervened  between  the  remarks  of  Mrs. 
King  and  the  discussion  of  Mr.  Finch's  relation  to  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  by 

MES.    M.    E.    EOBEETS. 

"  Mrs.  Roberts  remembered  distinctly  the  first  appearance  of  Mr. 
Finch  before  their  Union.  How  he  urged  upon  them  the  necessity  of 
steadfast  prayer,  for  without  it  they  could  not  meet  with  success.  He 
had  shown  himself  to  be  a  good  and  a  pure  man,  and  when  his  hour  of 
adversity  came,  when  the  enemy  attacked  his  good  name,  the  women  of 
Lincoln  were  glad  to  hold  a  public  meeting  to  do  all  they  could  to  vin- 
dicate him  before  the  eyes  of  the  world.  His  work  is  not  finished.  It 
is  just  beginning.  The  God  of  battle  leads,  and  the  grand  cause  will 
move  forward. 

"'Come,  ye  Disconsolate '  was  sung  with  feeling  by  Miss  Lillus  S. 
Peck,  the  glee  club  and  the  congregation  joining  in  the  refrain. 

COLONEL  GEOEGE  B.  SKINNEE, 

for  ten  years  President  of  the  Lincoln  Red  Ribbon  Club,  next  spoke  of 
'  Mr.  Finch's  Relation  to  the  Red  Ribbon  Club.' 

"  '  Mr.  Finch  came  to  Lincoln  in  1877  and  delivered  twenty-one  lec- 
tures in  succession.  During  these  lectures  he  converted  to  the  temper- 
ance faith  a  good  many  men  from  all  classes  of  society.  A  short  time 
after  the  close  of  these  lectures  he  called  upon  me  to  help  him  organize 
a  Red  Ribbon  Club,  which  I  did,  and  hired  a  hall  for  one  year,  and 
opened  the  meeting  with  a  membership  of  seventeen  old  soakers,  who 
had  sworn  to  live  a  sober  life.  This  was  the  start  of  the  Red  Ribbon 
Club  which  Mr.  Finch,  nine  years  afterward  in  this  city,  complimented 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  451 

by  saying  that  this  club  surpassed  in  point  of  numbers,  influence,  and 
power  any  temperance  club  known  in  this  country. 

"  '  Mr.  Finch  went  from  here  all  over  the  State,  organizing  fifty  or 
sixty  clubs.  I  called  a  State  Ked  Eibbon  Convention,  and  over  four 
hundred  delegates  responded  to  the  call.  This  gave  temperance  work  a 
great  impetus  outside  of  the  regular  organizations.  Our  club  received  a 
great  deal  of  help  from  Mr.  Finch  every  time  he  came  to  the  State. 
He  regarded  it  as  a  good  thing.  Everybody  could  come  in.  drunk  or 
sober.  I  must  tell  what  the  club  has  done,  as  it  redounds  to  his  glory. 
Since  the  organization  of  this  club  over  sixteen  thousand  persons  have 
signed  the  pledge,  and  while  many  have  gone  back,  hundreds  are  left 
who  have  kept  the  faith." 

A.    O.    WOLFENBABGEB 

was  introduced  by  the  chairman  of  the  meeting.  His  subject  was  '  Mr. 
Finch  as  a  Party  Leader. '  He  said  : 

"  '  Thousands  of  men  have  been  born  rich,  but  no  man  has  been  born 
great.  The  laurel  wreath  of  fame,  woven  by  jealous  fingers,  must  ever 
rest  upon  that  brow  beneath  whose  arches  glow  the  restless  and  un. 
quenchable  fires  of  a  genius  burnished  by  incessant  toil.  Some  essen- 
tials there  are  to  successful  leadership  common  to  all  who  move  the 
world's  grgat  armies : 

"  '  1.  Intelligence  to  plan. 

"  '  2.  Force  of  will  and  grasp  of  others'  confidence  to  carry  out  that 
plan. 

"  '  3.  Courage  to  grapple  with  overwhelming  obstacles,  supplemented 
by  a  happy  faculty  to  inspire  and  harmonize  human  forces. 

"  '  4.  Beneath  these  must  lie  the  solid  granite  foundation  of  a  cause 
worth  fighting  and  dying  for. 

"'That  all  these  elements  were  sublimely  blended  in  the  rounded 
character  of  John  B.  Finch  none  will  deny.  But  the  short  span  of 
a  life  but  half  begun  is  sadly  insufficient  to  test  a  general's  power. 


452  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Lying  before  us  as  an  open  book,  the  page  torn  rudely  out  at  thirty-five, 
we  read  what  has  been  written,  and  stand  in  mingled  sorrow  and  admi- 
ration beside  an  early  tomb.  In  all  that  makes  the  leader  grandly  great 
this  dauntless  knight  of  the  new  crusade  was  equipped.  With  a  lawyer's 
keen  analysis  he  studied  American  constitutions  and  drank  in  his  coun- 
try's history.  Schooled  in  the  noble  struggles  and  partial  successes  of 
moral  suasion  societies,  he  sought  to  supplement  their  good  beginnings 
with  more  enduring  work.  The  organized  enemies  of  society  and  pure 
government  were  intrenched  behind  the  protecting  bulwarks  of  social 
customs  and  written  law.  The  assassin  of  all  peace,  virtue,  public  and 
private  morality  stood  with  drawn  dagger,  reeking  with  the  blood  of 
millions  of  murdered  victims,  ready  to  stab  the  dearest  institutions  of 
this  republic  to  the  heart.  The  lion  manhood  of  free  America  had 
sneaked  to  cowards'  tents,  and  the  white  hands  of  women  and  the 
pinched  and  pale  faces  of  starving  childhood  were  uplifted  in  pleading 
for  protection.  The  tranced  spirits  of  illustrious  forefathers  filled  the 
fretted  air,  and  God' s  angel  came  forth  to  gird  the  loins  of  a  champion. 

"  '  The  executive  experience  of  John  B.  Finch,  as  chief  of  the  Eight 
Worthy  Grand  Lodge  of  the  world's  Good  Templars,  was  of  great  value. 
His  long  and  laborious  lecture  tours  had  left  his  name  in  almost  every 
Christian  household  throughout  the  land.  Unsought  fame  had  already 
set  her  shining  mark  on  the  orator's  head  when  the  Pittsburg  Conven 
tion  of  1884  named  him  as  the  Chairman  of  the  National  Committee  of 
the  Prohibition  Party. 

"  '  Amid  the  bitterest  political  struggle  that  had  occurred  since  the 
war,  the  prohibition  national  campaign  of  1884  was  conducted.  The 
highest  Presidential  vote  reached  in  any  Presidential  contest  prior  to 
1884  was  only  about  11,000.  With  only  a  few  weeks  in  which  to  plan 
his  campaign  and  conduct  the  canvass  in  the  various  States,  Mr.  Finch 
succeeded  in  calling  forth  a  vote  of  152,000  for  ex-Governor  St.  John. 

"  '  He  never  acknowledged  discouragement.  His  presence  in  a  State 
set  hundreds  at  work.  He  was  the  best  organizer  this  reform  ever  saw. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  453 

His  arraignment  of  the  liquor  politicians  and  parties  of  the  country  was 
an  indictment  from  which  his  opponents  instinctively  shrank,  not 
caring  to  plead  in  defence.  When  a  great  contest  was  over  he  would 
congratulate  the  workers  and  urge  immediate  organization  for  future 
fights.  He  kept  the  party  growing.  With  him  it  was  a  battle  to  the 
death,  and  temporary  defeat  was  only  the  signal  for  renewed  action. 

"  '  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  great  leader  fell  as  he  might  have  chosen 
— in  the  field  with  his  face  to  the  foe — for  he  loved  the  battle-field  only 
less  than  victory. 

"  '  The  work  he  so  grandly  inaugurated  will  go  on  till  the  cause  he 
fought  so  nobly  for  will  win.  His  princely  form  and  commanding  voice 
are  hidden  and  hushed  forever,  but  the  inspiration  of  his  leadership 
will  linger  to  cheer  us  through  the  irrepressible  conflict. 

"  '  "  Lay  him  to  sleep  whom  we  have  learned  to  love, 

Lay  him  to  sleep  whom  we  have  learned  to  trust ; 
Fresh  flowers  of  faith  shall  spring  from  out  his  dust, 
Bright  stars  of  hope  shall  shine  his  sod  above."' 

"  The  song  '  My  Redeemer  '  preceded  the  remarks  upon  '  Mr.  Finch's 
Work  in  the  Elevation  of  the  Home, '  by 

HON.    O.    P.    MASON,   EX-CHIEF  JUSTICE   OF   NEBRASKA. 

"  '  Death  is  at  all  times  terrible  to  the  living,  whether  it  comes  to  the 
smiling  infant  in  its  cold  embrace  or  to  venerable  and  decrepit  age,  with 
its  experience  and  wisdom.  And  the  terror  of  the  shock  is  greatly  in- 
tensified when  it  comes  to  those  in  the  full  vigor  of  life  and  takes  the 
strong  and  useful  to  the  silent  halls  of  death  to  become  the  companion 
of  the  mute  grave  worm  and  repose  in  the  silent  tomb.  In  such  a  case 
the  loss  to  humanity,  to  society,  and  the  world  is  irreparable.  But 
nature,  even  here,  holds  out  the  rainbow  tints  of  hope  to  cheer  the 
mourning  heart  and  encourage  activity  and  usefulness  in  a  field  where 
avarice,  selfishness,  and  jealousy  are  unknown  ;  where  ambition  for  the 


454  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

full  recognition  of  the  brotherhood  of  humanity  and  the  fatherhood  of 
God  is  greatly  intensified.  This  at  least  is  the  hope  I  entertain  for  my 
departed  friend. 

"  '  We  all  know  the  powers  of  his  mind  and  his  enthusiastic  feelings 
were  enlisted  in  the  cause  in  which  he  took  part,  and  so  deeply  was  he 
interested,  so  persuaded  of  the  justice  of  his  side  of  the  question,  that 
he  was  never  known  to  admit  the  advocates  of  his  cause  to  be  wrong. 
If  doubts  were  suggested  by  the  opposite  party,  he  would  repel  them  in 
an  instant  as  if  they  reflected  upon  his  honor  and  judgment.  The  power 
of  his  eloquence  was  supreme  in  the  cause  which  he  advocated.  When 
he  spoke  the  audience  chamber  was  thronged,  and  none  listened  without 
a  tribute  of  admiration.  He  continued  in  his  labors  with  a  constantly 
increasing  reputation  until  called  hence.  He  loved  humanity  and 
labored  for  its  elevation.  In  the  cause  which  he  represented  it  may  be 
truthfully  said  : 

"  '  "  This  was  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all  ; 


He  only,  in  a  general  honest  thought, 

And  common  good  to  all,  made  one  of  them. 

His  life  was  gentle  ;  and  the  elements 

So  mix'd  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up 

And  say  to  all  the  world  :  This  was  a  man  !  " 

"  'According  to  his  deeds  and  his  virtues  let  us  honor  his  memory 
and  with  all  respect  and  rites  of  esteem,  commemorate  his  noble  acts  in 
a  good  cause. 

"  'He  labored  to  make  his  country  the  eagle's  nest  of  freedom  and 
not  alone  the  cradle  of  infant  liberty.  He  was  assailed  by  the  whirl- 
winds of  rage  and  passion  ;  but  he  remained  calm  amid  the  fury  of  the 
storm,  guiding  the  cause  he  represented  to  success  and  victory.  The 
greatest  man  is  he  who  chooses  the  right  with  invincible  resolutions  ; 
who  resists  the  severest  temptations  from  within  and  without  ;  who 
bears  the  heaviest  burdens  cheerfully  ;  who  is  calmest  ia  storms  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  455 

most  fearless  under  menace  and  frowns,  and  whose  reliance  on  truth, 
on  virtue,  and  on  God  is  most  unfaltering.  Tried  by  this  standard,  the 
deceased  must  take  rank  among  the  good  and  great.  There  is  yet  another 
test.  The  true  test  of  a  great  man — that,  at  least,  which  must  sec  are  his 
place  among  the  highest  order  of  great  men — is  his  having  been  in  ad- 
vance of  his  age  ;  and  when  tried  by  this  standard  the  deceased  was 
truly  great.  He  was  foremost  in  the  cause  he  represented  and  far  in 
advance  of  his  age.  He  is  good  who  does  good  to  others,  and  if  he  suf- 
fers for  the  good  he  does  he  is  better  still,  and  if  he  suffers  from  them 
to  whom  he  did  good,  he  is  arrived  at  the  height  of  goodness,  to  which 
nothing  but  an  increase  of  his  suffering  can  add.  If  it  proves  his 
death,  his  virtue  is  at  its  summit  ;  it  is  heroism  complete.  Earth's 
highest  station  ends  in  "  Here  he  lies."  And  dust  to  dust  concludes 
the  noblest  song,  and  he  is  not  great  who  is  not  greatly  good.' 

"  The  last  speaker  of  the  afternoon  was  Dr.  C.  F.  Creighton,  pastor  of 
St.  Paul's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  His  remarks  were  substantially 
as  follows  : 

"  'This  audience,  what  a  tribute  !  In  other  cities  what  expressions 
of  regard  are  being  manifested  to-day  !  How  they  indicate  the  character 
of  the  individual  !  These  are  Christian  audiences.  The  Christian  audi- 
ences of  the  world  have  been  inspired  and  moulded  by  the  Christian 
lips  that  are  now  passing  to  dust. 

"  '  Reformers  like  Mr.  Finch  are  the  outgrowth  of  the  Christian 
Church.  No  other  institution  produces  them,  and  not  only  so,  but  the 
material  which  these  reformers  use  to  elevate  the  world  is  found  in  the 
Church.  His  relations  with  the  Christian  world  were  vital. 

"  '  The  Christian  people,  the  more  cultivated  and  Christianized  people 
of  the  nation,  want  to  settle  the  liquor  question.  In  your  hands  lies  the 
settlement  of  the  liquor  traffic.  On  this  line  John  B.  Finch  occupies 
a  position  from  which  his  influence  for  good  goes  out  like  the  light  from 
a  beacon.  He  is  dead,  but  the  cause  will  go  on  after  his  death. 

"  '  Mr.  Finch  was  one  of  the  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  that  occupy 


456  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

places  in  the  firmament.  Many  have  been  blotted  out,  and  we  say  they 
are  dead.  Is  Shakespeare  dead  ?  We  know  that  he  lives  in  the  litera- 
ture of  every  nation  and  yet  speaks  to  millions  through  his  wonderful 
poems  and  tragedies.  Is  John  B.  Gough  dead  ?  Is  his  influence  dead  ? 
No.  John  B.  Finch  is  not  dead.  I  believe  that  is  one  of  the  great 
headlights  of  progress  that  go  dashing  on  into  the  trackless  void  and 
summon  and  show  the  way  for  the  advance  of  civilization. 

"  '  John  B.  Finch  was  the  bitter  enemy  of  the  liquor  traffic.  Now  the 
arm  that  was  lifted  against  it  has  fallen.  The  soul  that  fought  it  so 
gallantly  is  now  crowned  among  the  martyrs. 

"  '  Thank  God  for  such  men. 

"  '  The  liquor  traffic  to-day  rules  this  nation  as  an  unlimited  mon- 
archy. This  John  B.  Finch  died  in  fighting,  and  to-day  we  can  do  no 
more  than  to  shed  a  tear  over  his  dust  and  drop  a  laurel,  and  thank  God 
that  even  his  dust  is  left  us.  God  never  forgets  His  own  dead.  Our 
hopes  are  fired  by  the  thought  that  He  will  breathe  upon  the  dust  where 
his  sainted  dead  sleeps,  and  lift  him  up  as  a  monument  of  those  who 
have  died  for  others.  If  God  reigns  he  shall  be  crowned.' 

"  '  Sweet  By  and  By,'  by  the  glee  club  and  the  audience,  and  the 
benediction,  by  Rev.  J.  T.  Minehart,  brought  the  exercises  to  a  close." 

The  National  Temperance  Society  issued  a  pamphlet 
containing  a  complete  report  of  the  Chickering  Hall  ser- 
vices on  the  same  day.  From  that  pamphlet  the  following 
extracts  from  the  addresses  are  made  : 

ADDRESS  OF  THEODORE  L.  CUYLER,  D.D. 

"  FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW- WORKERS  :  The  eloquent  voice  that  was  to  have 
rung  through  this  hall  this  afternoon,  with  its  thrilling  inspiration,  is 
silent,  because  it  has  passed  into  the  harmonies  of  the  heavenly  world. 
It  has  been  my  privilege  during  the  last  five-and-forty  years  to  be  ac- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  467 

qtiainted  with  about  all  the  leaders  of  the  Temperance  Reform,  from  the 
pioneer  days  of  Lyman  Beecher,  and  Father  Mathew,  and  Delavan,  and 
Jewett ;  but  among  them  all  no  other  man  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five 
had  wrought  so  wide  a  work  and  had  so  wide  a  reputation  as  John  B. 
Finch.  He  was  every  inch  a  man  in  his  superb  physique,  and  with  his 
smile  as  sweet  as  summer.  Strange,  brethren,  to  think  it  has  gone  off 
that  face — in  his  manly  bearing,  in  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  in  his 
large  charity,  and  in  his  heroic  consecration  to  the  glorious  work  of  sal- 
vation for  his  fellow-men.  Well,  on  the  single  question  of  policy  his 
judgment  and  mine  differed  ;  differed  frankly  ;  differed  fraternally  ;  dif- 
fered generously  as  fellow-workers  ought  if  ever  on  any  point  they  differ. 
My  Brother  Finch  was  an  intensely  earnest  partisan  Prohibitionist.  I 
have  been  decidedly  from  conviction  a  non-partisan  Prohibitionist,  and 
yet  not  one  whit  the  less  do  I  always  honor  the  zeal  and  intrepidity  with 
which  he  marched  up  to  the  uttermost  limit  of  his  highest  convictions. 
Wherever  I  saw  the  flash  of  that  cimeter  or  heard  that  glorious  voice 
ringing  out  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle,  I  said,  '  Go  on,  brother  ;  your 
blows  are  telling  against  the  common  foe.  You  are  fighting  for  the  vic- 
tory of  our  one  great  cause  ;  for  the  salvation  of  our  fellow-men  and  of 
our  land  from  the  most  perfidious  and  cruel  of  curses  and  of  despot- 
isms.' My  friend  Finch  was  a  brilliant  political  orator  and  sagacious 
political  strategist,  but  he  was  a  great  deal  more  than  that.  His  fire- 
like  sagacity  made  him  more  than  that,  for  behind  the  terrific  ramparts 
of  the  liquor  traffic  belching  out  fire,  blood,  death,  and  damnation,  he 
saw  the  drinking  usages  and  labored  with  all  his  might  and  main  to 
remove  them.  Behind  the  ballot-box  he  recognized  a  popular  con- 
science, and  addressed  himself  to  it,  and  felt  that  only  reform  in  all  its 
aspects  could  be  carried  on  by  a  public  conscience  leavened  with  truth 
and  held  firm  by  this"  conviction  of  the  everlasting  right.  And  more 
than  that.  John  B.  Finch  was  a  man  of  God,  a  sincere,  devout,  child- 
like follower  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  sword  he  wielded  was  the  sword 
fashioned  in  heaven.  It  wrought  mightily.  The  hand  that  held  it  has 


458  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

been  stricken  with  death,  but  the  sword— the  sword  survives.  Other 
hands  will  take  it  up.  Others  are  marching  with  it  through  the  breach 
unto  victory.  Unless  I  misread  his  brief,  beautiful  life,  no  part  of  it 
was  more  fruitful  or  will  live  longer  than  that  part  which  was  devoted  to 
the  leadership  of  that  splendid,  world-wide  organization  of  the  Good 
Templars.  He  led  them  over  the  whole  land  and  in  other  lands,  for  his 
audience-chamber  spread  from  Plymouth  Rock  to  the  Pacific,  and  the 
men  listed  under  its  standards  were  counted  by  tens  of  thousands  and 
hundreds  of  thousands.  His  work  goes  on.  Brethren,  comrades,  to-day 
we  clasp  our  hands  afresh  in  a  vow  of  everlasting  loyalty  to  the  cause 
for  which  John  B.  Finch  lived,  fought,  and  in  which  he  breathed  his 
last  breath  when  God  summoned  him  to  his  crown.  On  the  early  morn- 
ing of  the  first  day  at  Gettysburg  the  gallant  Reynolds  fell,  pierced 
through  the  heart,  dropping  instantly  from  his  horse.  The  battle  went 
on  till  at  the  stone  wall  broke  the  crest  of  the  highest  wave  of  the  rebel- 
lion. In  the  forefront  of  this  great  fight  of  the  age  John  B.  Finch  is 
fallen— suddenly  translated.  The  great  fight  goes  on.  The  National 
Temperance  Society,  which  I  have  the  honor  of  representing  this  after- 
noon, loses  one  of  its  noblest  officers.  Our'work  goes  on.  The  great 
and  beneficent  Order  of  the  Good  Templars  has  lost  its  beloved  head. 
The  great  work  goes  on.  On  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  the  battle 
against  the  drinking  usages  and  the  dram-shops  our  leader  leaves  us. 
But,  hark  !  hark  !  Methinks  from  the  upper  spheres  I  hear  that  voice 
still  sounding,  '  Brethren,  comrades,  advance  in  the  name  of  the  Al- 
mighty till  to  the  great  canse  of  prohibition  His  right  hand  and  His  holy 
arm  shall  give  you  the  victory  ! ' 

"  You  know  that  when  the  gallant  young  Count  d'Auvergne  fell  at  his 
post,  his  name  still  was  kept  on  the  roll,  and  whenever  it  was  called,  some 
one  stepped  out  a  few  paces  to  the  front  and  answered,  '  Died  on  the 
field  of  honor.'  John  B.  Finch's  name  stands  and  it  will  stand,  and  we 
will  call  it  on  the  roll,  and  whenever  it  is  called  some  one  shall,  by  his 
voluntary  effort,  step  three  paces  to  the  front  and  say,  '  Died  on  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  459 

field  of  battle  for  God  and  home  and  native  land  ;  for  truth  and  temper- 
ance and  righteousness." " 

ADDKESS  OF  GENERAL   CLINTON  B.  FISK. 

"  MB.  PRESIDENT,  FBTENDS  OF  THE  TEMPEBANCE  UNION  :  The  tidings  of 
the  death  of  John  B.  Finch  carried  sorrow  to  thousands  of  homes  and 
hearts.  In  no  one  spot  outside  of  that  sacred  place  where  the  widow 
and  the  fatherless  boy  weep  by  the  side  of  the  dear  dead  husband  and 
father,  are  there  mourners  more  sincere  than  this  thronging  multitude  in 
Chickering  Hall — here  where  he  was  so  much  beloved,  here  where  we 
hoped  fondly  to  listen  to  his  musical  voice  on  this  very  day.  The  Lord 
of  Hosts  has  taken  away  from  our  Jerusalem  the  strong  staff,  the  mighty 
man,  the  wise  counsellor,  and  the  eloquent  orator.  Since  there  came 
to  us  with  such  suddenness  on  last  Tuesday  morning  the  announcement 
of  his  death,  in  our  despondency  and  sense  of  loss  we  have  been  grop- 
ing blindly,  crying  as  children  at  the  translation  of  this  youthful 
prophet,  '  My  Father,  my  Father,  the  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horse- 
men thereof.'  It  is  vain  to  stand  here  to  speak  in  a  few  words  of  John 
B.  Finch.  We  are  too  near  that  awful  scene.  Some  other  time  some 
loving  friend  who  knew  him  all  along  will  stand  in  some  proper  place 
and  paint  the  picture  of  this  wonderful  man.  Wonderfully  many-sided, 
combining  in  his  character  those  natural  qualifications,  physical  and 
mental,  which  combined  in  him  so  many  qualities  that  are  ordinarily 
distributed  over  many  persons.  He  was  a  close  student ;  a  deep  thinker, 
and  retained  what  he  read  about.  He  was  a  wonderful  orator  with  that 
musical  voice  of  his  by  nature  so  richly  endowed  and  so  highly  culti- 
vated. Frank  in  his  expression,  his  earnest,  ardent  temperament  cleav- 
ing the  way  into  all  heads  and  hearts.  By  far  the  most  convincing,  the 
most  impressive  speaker  I  ever  listened  to  on  any  platform. 

"John  B.  Finch  is  dead,  and  we  from  our  standpoint  of  human  vision 
say,  '  We  never  can  fill  his  place.'  It  will  be  difficult  to  do  it ;  but» 


460  THE  LIPS  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

remember,  my  friends,  that  God  lives  ;  that  we  have  never  got  to  fill  His 
place,  and  it  is  His  cause.  He  takes  us  by  the  hand  to-day,  reaching 
down  amid  the  unseen  forces,  and  leading  us  forward  in  this  great  battle. 
"  A  few  months  ago  I  stood  with  him  on  many  platforms  in  the  great 
campaign  in  Michigan,  and  when  we  came  into  Detroit,  there  to  meet 
the  champions  of  the  saloon — for  they  could  be  called  nothing  else — I 
sat  in  our  hotel  on  that  Saturday  in  March,  the  26th,  with  David  Pres- 
ton on  one  side  of  me  and  John  B.  Finch  on  the  other  side.  We  were 
all  worn — we  were  all  weary.  Mr.  Preston  said  to  me  :  '  General,  you 
are  working  too  hard.  We  did  not  bring  you  to  Michigan  to  kill  you. 
Mr.  Finch  put  his  hand  lovingly  upon  my  arm,  and  said :  '  You  must 
stop  ;  you  must  go  slowly.  I  will  do  all  the  work  to-night.  You  speak 
but  a  few  moments.'  And  there  we  three  together  planned  the  defence 
— that  magnificent  defence  he  gave  of  our  cause  before  four  thousand 
people  that  evening.  A  few  days  afterward  Mr.  Preston  fell  as  suddenly 
as  Mr.  Finch  fell.  Sitting  with  his  family  at  night,  singing  the  sweet 
song,  '  Thus  far  the  Lord  hath  led  me  on,"  he  went  to  his  room,  never 
to  come  forth  alive.  And  on  last  Monday  night  this  other  friend  of 
mine,  who  cautioned  me  so  lovingly,  was  not,  for  God  took  him. 

"  Ob,  my  friends,  let  us  emulate  the  example  of  John  B.  Finch  !  You 
young  men  who  listen  to  me  to-day,  oh,  stand  for  truth.  Turn  your 
faces  toward  the  stars  and  be  men.  Have  the  courage  of  your  convic- 
tions, as  did  this  man,  and  devote  all  your  days  to  the  great  cause  for 
which  he  died.  We  mourn,  but,  after  all,  how  blessed  a  thing  to  die 
as  he  died  !  He  died  strong.  We  mourn  for  him. 
********** 

"  '  For  him  the  welcome  angel  came 
Ere  yet  his  eye  grew  dim 
Or  bent  his  stately  frame.  .     , 

"  '  His  weapon  was  so  bright, 

His  shield  was  lifted  high, 
To  smite  the  wrong,  protect  the  right, — 
What  happier  hour  to  die  ? 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  £.  FINC&  461 

Oar  hearts  lie  buried  in  the  dust 

With  him  so  true  and  tender, 
And  every  murmuring  heart  be  still, 
As,  bowing  to  God's  sovereign  will, 

Our  best  loved  we  surrender.' 

"  Brethren,  by  the  side  of  these  rapidly-opening  graves  let  us  come  to 
a  new  consecration,  seize  the  mantle  of  the  ascending  prophets,  and  so 
shall  it  be  said  of  us  when  we  come  to  die  —they  will  chant  about  our 
tombs  that  elegy  of  the  Church—'  Thanks  be  to  God  who  giveth  us  the 
victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'  " 


ADDRESS  OF  EEV.  I.  K.  FUNK. 

"  Lamartine  in  his '  History  of  Turkey '  tells  the  story  of  Mahomet  in  his 
early  career  gathering  around  him  his  family,  who  did  not  as  yet  believe 
in  his  claims,  and  asked  them  to  give  him  an  adherence  to  those  claims. 
He  said  to  them  :  '  Which  of  you  will  be  my  brother,  my  substitute, 
my  representative  ? '  They  were  terror-stricken  at  the  thought,  and 
none  answered.  By  and  by  the  youngest  one,  but  a  child,  stepped  for- 
ward and  said  :  '  Prophet  of  the  Lord,  I,  in  the  default  of  others. '  So 
when  this  greatest  of  the  crusades  against  intemperance  was  begun,  the 
God  of  Heaven  looked  down  upon  earth,  and  said  :  '  Who  among  you 
all  will  be  My  substitute,  My  representative  ?  '  The  aged  among  us,  the 
wise  men  of  reputation,  were  silent,  almost  terrified,  at  the  growing  pro- 
portions of  the  liquor  traffic,  intrenched  as  never  before  behind  the 
wealth,  social  customs,  and  in  the  politics  of  the  day.  Silent !  At  last 
a  young  man  stepped  forward  and  said  :  '  Lord,  I,  in  the  default  of 
others.'  And  as  Mahomet,  when  that  young  man  told  him  that  he  in 
the  default  of  others  would  be  his  representative,  said  to  them,  '  Obey 
him,'  so  we  heard  the  Divine  command  say  to  us  all,  '  Obey  that  young 
man.'  But  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  seldom  has  any  leader  been  so 
implicitly  obeyed  as  has  been  John  B.  Finch  in  these  last  two  years. 


462  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Now  dead  !    John  B.  Finch  dead  !    What  is  death  ?    It  is  birth,  resur- 
rection.    Not  dead. 

"  A  little  girl  hsad  a  little  bird's  egg,  so  beautiful  of  color  and  shape, 
she  visited  it  time  and  again,  and  at  last  she  saw  the  shell  was  broken. 
The  beauty  and  shape  were  gone.  She  burst  into  tears  as  if  her  heart 
would  break.  She  heard  a  little  sound  and  looked  up,  and  there  on  the 
bough  of  a  tree  was  a  singing-bird — so  beautiful !  That  bird  was  per- 
fected in  that  shell,  and  had  escaped  from  the  broken  shell.  The  little 
child  forgot  the  broken  shell  as  she  saw  the  bird.  Out  in  Evanston,  111., 
is  the  broken  shell.  The  perfected  man  is  not  there.  Nor  is  he  gone. 
I  believe,  brethren,  that  those  who  die  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  with 
us.  The  Saviour  said  :  '  I  am  the  first-fruits  of  the  resurrection.  I  go 
for  your  sakes  (not  for  His  own),  and  if  I  go  I  come  again.'  And  as  He 
came  and  was  a  power  more  than  ever  to  those  who  believed  in  Him,  so 
this  one  who  has  gone  beyond  the  veil  is  not  away  from  us.  Beyond 
the  veil  are  the  secret  springs  of  those  forces  that  move  the  world. 
Not  less  than  before,  but  greater  than  before.  Had  John  B.  Finch 
a  wonderful  knowledge  of  human  nature,  that  intuitive  knowledge 
that  was  almost  miraculous  ?  He  understands  the  human  heart  better 
to-day  than  ever.  Had  he  a  marvellous  power  of  combination  and 
a  lightning  power  of  execution  ?  Never  was  he  so  able  to  combine — 
never  so  swift  of  execution  as  to-day.  The  stars,  we  are  told,  fought  in 
their  courses  against  Sisera.  The  dead  are  fighting  with  those  who  are 
in  the  right  in  this  mighty  cause.  It  is  no  calamity  to  die.  I  once  heard 
Henry  Ward  Beecher  say  to  a  man  who  came  up  to  him  and  said  :  '  You 
are  not  well.'  '  No,'  said  Beecher,  with  a  far-away  look.  He  ventured 
to  say  further  :  '  Mr.  Beecher,  you  had  better  be  careful  of  yourself,  or 
some  time  sickness  will  get  the  better  of  you."  With  that  look  that 
seemed  to  take  in  immensity,  he  said  :  '  I  hope  so  ;  I  hope  so.  I  would 
not  live  al way.'  He  who  understands  the  mystery  of  death,  as  the 
Scripture  teaches  us,  would  not  live  alway — not  even  if  he  takes  into 
consideration  only  the  welfare  of  those  who  remain  behind.  The  last 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  463 

time— and  it  seems  but  yesterday— that  Mr.  Finch  spoke  to  me,  almost 
his  last  words  were  :  '  Let  there  be  no  compromise  with  that  infernal 
liquor  power."  I  said  to  him  :  '  Let  there  be  no  compromise.' 

"  Ki chard  Coaur  de  Lion,  after  he  was  dead,  led  in  a  remarkable  way 
his  soldiers.  His  heart  was  taken  out  and  put  in  a  casket,  and  his  sol- 
diers would  carry  that  casket  with  them  in  battle.  They  would  throw 
the  casket  far  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  and  then  they  would  cry  : 
'  Let  us  go  forward  to  where  Eichard's  heart  is.'  And  so  let  us  throw 
this  sentence  of  John  B.  Finch  :  '  Let  there  be  no  compromise  with  the 
infernal  power,  the  liquor  traffic.'  Hurl  it  forward  into  the  ranks  of  the 
enemy,  and  then  cry  to  the  temperance  hosts  from  Maine  down  to 
Texas,  on  to  California  :  '  Let  us  fight  up  to  that  sentence  of  John  B. 
Finch.' ' ' 

ADDEESS  OF  MES.  MAEY  T.  BUET. 

"  Sometimes  death  comes  after  days  and  months  of  pain  and  suffer- 
ing. Sometimes  it  comes  suddenly,  quickly,  instantaneously,  and  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  mortal  puts  on  immortality.  Sometimes  it 
delays  its  coming  until  all  preparations  have  been  made  for  leaving  the 
earthly  home  for  the  heavenly.  But  not  so  the  summons  came  to  our 
brother.  It  came  to  him  when  his  life  was  full  of  earnest  plans  of  hard 
work.  It  came  to  him  when  life,  I  presume,  seemed  the  dearest.  It 
came  to  him  when  he  stood  as  the  honored  leader  and  the  trusted  guide 
of  two  great  organizations.  And  God  was  merciful  in  sending  death 
thus.  He  was  spared,  our  brother,  the  fruitless  longing  of  not  seeing 
his  hopes  fulfilled  or  his  plans  realized.  God  took  him  to  Himself  sud- 
denly and  quickly.  In  the  course  of  my  temperance  work  and  life  I  was 
privileged  to  meet  Mr.  Finch  but  three  times.  I  heard  him  speak  but 
once,  and  that  was  at  the  great  meeting  in  Syracuse,  August  25th,  1887. 
I  remember  as  he  sat  upon  the  platform  when,  just  as  his  name  was 
announced,  his  friend  and  brother,  Mr.  Hopkins,  turned  and  extended 
to  him  his  hand.  They  sat  thus  for  an  instant  with  clasped  hands, 


464  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

looking  into  each  other's  eyes,  a  look  of  perfect  love  and  of  confidence. 
And  then  he  rose  to  speak.  But  a  great  storm  of  applause  swept  over 
that  audience.  And  as  he  stood  then  in  his  magnificent  manhood 
giving  expression  to  utterances  which  thrilled  the  hearts  of  his  hearers 
and  inspired  them  to  fresh  action,  I  said  to  myself :  '  What  a  splendid 
and  God-given  man  ! '  But  we  could  not  say — we  did  not  know — that 
there,  close  by  his  side,  stood  the  angel  of  death.  We  did  not  know 
that  never  again  in  this  great  State  would  that  voice  be  heard  in  behalf 
of  this  great  cause.  But  that  was  God's  way,  and  that  was  His  will. 
I  believe  that  Mr.  Finch  was  a  man  of  the  strictest  integrity  ;  the  purest 
life  ;  that  he  was  a  Christian  man  ;  and  it  seems  to  me,  in  the  face  of 
this  record,  that  nothing  more  can  be  said,  for  no  memorial  can  be  better 
than  that.  As  I  sat  that  night  on  the  platform  in  Syracuse,  and  heard 
the  expressions  of  the  men  who  stood  side  by  side  with  him  in  this  great 
battle,  I  realized  that  for  him  they  felt  a  love  that  was  not  common  in 
its  nature  ;  that  the  love  they  felt  for  him  was  like  the  love  which 
Jonathan  felt  for  David  ;  and  I  have  sat  here  on  this  platform  this  after- 
noon, and  I  have  seen  strong  men  weep  on  every  side  of  me,  and  so  I  know 
that  this  was  no  common  man,  and  so  I  feel  that  for  his  life,  for  his 
presence,  and  for  his  words,  you  need  be  doubly  thankful  to  the  One 
that  gave  him  to  you.  And  now  it  would  seem  to  our  poor  clouded 
human  vision  that  this  is  all  wrong.  That  this  life,  so  useful  and  so 
beautiful,  should  be  taken  now  in  its  prime— it  would  seem  to  us  all 
wrong.  But  not  so,  my  friends.  The  life  taken  just  as  it  was,  in 
God's  sight,  all  rounded  and  complete  ;  the  warp  and  woof  all  perfect. 
Just  as  when  the  one  with  silvered  hairs  and  whose  face  is  all  lined 
over  with  the  experiences  and  the  cares  of  life,  whose  hands  are 
wrinkled  and  feeble— just  as  we  judge  their  lives  to  be  complete  in  years 
and  usefulness,  just  as  complete  was  this  man,  our  brother. 

I  am  glad  I  met  Mr.  Finch  as  I  did.  I  am  glad  to  have  known  him, 
for  we  women  looked  to  him  as  the  leader  of  this  great  cause  in  this 
country.  We  trusted  him  as  much  as  did  you.  We  honored  him  no  less^ 


TBE  LIFE  OF  JOBN  S.  FINCB.  465 

And  now  to  the  wife  sitting  in  her  stricken  home  in  the  far  West  goes 
out  our  heart  in  tenderest  sympathy  ;  and  for  this  boy  in  his  youthful 
years  left  so  lonely  and  fatherless,  may  God  keep  them  and  care  for 
them  as  He  will.  We  realize  that  while  this  man,  so  full  of  power  and 
life,  was  out  in  the  world,  that  the  great  heart  of  his  joyous  soul  was  sud- 
denly and  painfully  stirred  often  and  often  ;  we  know  that  he  heard 
heavenly  voices  calling,  and  we  know  that  he  has  reached  that  happy, 
tearless  shore  which  girds  God's  throne  in  heaven.  In  the  bosom  of 
the  Almighty  is  he  sheltered,  and  in  His  arms  has  he  found  eternal  rest. 

"  '  Sen-ant  of  God,  well  done  ! 

Rest  from  thy  loved  employ  ; 
The  battle  fought,  the  victory  won 
Enter  thy  Master's  joy. 

"  '  The  voice  at  midnight  came  ; 

He  started  up  to  hear  ; 
A  mortal  arrow  pierced  his  frame, 
He  fell,  but  felt  no  fear. 

"  '  Tranquil  amidst  alarms, 

It  found  him  in  the  field  ; 
A  veteran  slumbering  on  his  arms, 
Beneath  his  Red  Cross  shield. 

"  '  His  sword  was  in  his  hand, 

Still  warm  with  recent  fight, 
Ready  that  moment,  at  command. 
Through  rock  and  steel  to  smite. 

"  '  The  pains  of  death  are  past, 

Labor  and  sorrow  cease, 
And  life's  long  warfare  closed  at  last— 
His  soul  is  found  in  peace. 

"  '  Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done  ! 
Praise  be  thy  new  employ  ; 
And  while  eternal  ages  run, 
Rest  in  thy  Saviour's  joy.'  " 


466  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Stephen  M.  Wright,  Esq.,  Vice-President  of  the  Ameri- 
can Temperance  Union,  offered  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

"  WHEREAS,  It  has  pleased  Him  who  notes  even  the  fall  of  a  sparrow, 
to  suddenly  call  from  our  midst  one  who,  though  scarcely  yet  in  the 
prime  of  life,  was  the  accepted  leader  in  waging  the  battle  against  the 
intemperance  of  our  land  ; 

"  WHEKEAS,  From  this  platform,  and  at  this  very  hour,  was  to  have 
been  heard  his  voice  in  ringing  denunciation  of  the  great  evil  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  it  is  therefore  eminently  fit  and  proper  that  there  should 
be  offered  such  feeble  words  of  sympathy  as  befit  our  sorrowing  hearts  ; 
therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  American  Temperance  Union,  and  its  friends 
here  assembled,  do  express  our  deep  feeling  of  sorrow  and  bereavement 
at  the  loss  which  we  have  sustained  in  the  death  of  our  dear  friend  and 
co-laborer,  John  B.  Finch. 

"Resolved,  That  we  unite  .with  all  other  temperance  organizations  in 
deploring  his  great  loss,  at  this  particular  time,  when  his  clarion  voice 
is  so  needed  to  carry  forward  the  great  work  intrusted  to  our  hands. 

"  Resolved,  That  to  the  Order  of  Good  Templars  do  we  particularly 
extend  our  sympathy  in  the  loss  of  the  great  chieftain  by  whose  power 
of  persuasion  they  were  made  to  extend  their  hands  across  the  ocean, 
and  grasp  each  other  in  friendly  unity. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  we,  as  members  of  the  American  Temperance 
Union,  do  keenly  feel  the  loss  which  we  have  sustained  in  the  death  of 
a  warm  friend,  ever  ready  to  respond  to  our  call,  we  cannot  but  realize 
how  serious  is  the  blow  to  the  temperance  cause  in  all  its  phases,  for 
in  John  B.  Finch  they  all  found  a  close  student,  a  vigorous  thinker,  an 
impressive  and  convincing  speaker,  clear  and  logical  in  his  reasoning, 
with  a  remarkable  degree  of  boldness  and  unflinching  faithfulness  of 
purpose,  which  made  him,  by  its  own  force,  naturally  a  most  sagacious 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  467 

leader  ;  and,  as  we  part  with  him  to-day  at  the  tomb,  we  may  fittingly 
say  :  '  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness  and  hated  iniquity. ' 

"  Resolved,  That  to  his  family  we  tender  our  sincere  condolence  in 
this  hour  of  deep  affliction,  and  sympathy  in  this  their  irreparable  loss 
of  an  affectionate  husband  and  tender-hearted  father  ;  and  while  we  hesi- 
tate to  trespass  upon  the  sacredness  of  their  grief,  we  earnestly  com- 
mend them  to  the  mercy  of  Him  who  has  promised  a  crown  of  immortal 
glory  beyond  the  tomb." 

In  Boston  memorial  services  were  held  in  the  People's 
Church  Sunday  afternoon,  October  23d.  James  II.  Koberts 
presided. 

After  remarks  by  the  chairman,  the  choir  sang  : 

"  Beyond  the  smiling  and  the  weeping, 

I  shall  be  soon  ; 

Beyond  the  waking  and  the  sleeping, 
Beyond  the  sowing  and  the  reaping, 

I  shall  be  soon. 

Love,  rest,  and  home  ;  sweet,  sweet  home  ; 
Lord,  tarry  not,  but  come. 

"  Beyond  the  rising  and  the  setting, 

I  shall  be  soon  ; 

Beyond  the  calming  and  the  fretting, 
Beyond  remembering  and  forgetting, 

I  shall  be  soon. 

Love,  rest,  and  home  ;  sweet,  sweet  home  ; 
Lord,  tarry  not,  but  come. 

"  Beyond  the  parting  and  the  meeting, 
I  shall  be  soon  ; 


468  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

Beyond  the  farewell  and  the  greeting, 
Beyond  the  pulse's  fever-heating, 

I  shall  be  soon. 

Love,  rest,  and  home  ;  sweet,  sweet  home  ; 
Lord,  tarry  not,  but  come." 

ADDRESS  OF  BENJAMIN  E.  JEWELL. 

"  Life  is  real  ;  it  may  be  brief  ;  let  us  learn  therefore  the  necessity  of 
living  not  to  ourselves,  but  for  the  good  of  our  fellow  men.  Let  us 
break  the  narrow  cords  of  selfishness  that  bind  us  within  the  limited 
vision  of  ourselves  and  those  with  whom  we  are  intimately  associated. 
Let  us  labor  for  the  good  of  the  race  ;  then  shall  we  realize  the  full 
value  of  life  and  the  true  measure  of  time. 

"  '  We  live  in  deeds,  not  years  ;  in  thoughts,  not  breaths  ; 
In  feelings,  not  in  figures  on  the  dial. 
We  should  count  time  by  heart-throbs,  when  they  beat 
For  God,  for  man,  for  duty.    He  most  lives 
Who  thinks  most,  feels  the  noblest,  acts  the  best.' 

"  Measured  by  this  standard,  John  B.  Finch  lived  a  long  life.  Cut 
down  in  the  early  summer  of  his  years,  he  lived  to  the  autumn  of  life 
in  influence  and  experience.  His  was  a  rare  combination  of  gentleness 
and  strength  ;  his  winning  manner  and  luminous  smile  were  irresistible. 
He  convinced  his  hearers  by  the  logical  presentation  of  his  subject ;  his 
withering  satire  was  annihilating  ;  his  was  an  analytical  mind.  His 
sentences  were  ornate,  and  as  an  orator  he  ranked  among  the  first  upon 
the  temperance  platform.  As  a  speaker  he  was  not  impassioned  ;  his 
training  as  a  lawyer  enabled  him  to  led  his  hearers,  step  by  step,  from 
principles  that  were  self-evident  to  those  that  would  reasonably  follow. 
He  was  sympathetic,  and  the  little  incidents  of  life  that  touch  our  com- 
passion moved  his  heart  to  the  tenderest  emotions.  I  have  seen  him 
help  the  little  ragged  newsboy  time  and  time  again  ;  if  he  could  bring 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  469 

sunlight  out  of  darkness  or  a  smile  to  one  with  a  burdened  heart,  it  was 
a  real  pleasure  for  him  to  do  so.  His  spirit  was  that  of  one  who  wished 
to  help  his  fellow-man. 

"  It  was  my  privilege  to  be  with  him  many  times  in  the  constitutional 
amendment  campaigns,  and  I  wish  to  state  that  in  his  presentation  of 
the  cause,  he  rigidly  adhered  to  his  agreement  with  the  committee  that 
he  was  to  present  the  subject  from  a  non-partisan  standpoint ;  and  while 
he  was  an  intense  partisan  upon  the  platform,  he  was  faithful  to  his  en- 
gagements with  the  Amendment  Committee. 

' '  To  me  his  words  were  an  inspiration,  and  his  sincere  and  brave 
spirit  wonderfully  impressed  me,  and  I  regarded  him  the  most  able  ex- 
ponent for  constitutional  prohibition. 

"  He  was  a  natural  organizer  and  possessed  rare  executive  ability. 
The  detail  of  work  was  not  irksome  to  him,  and  he  joined  heartily  in  all 
plans  for  the  advancement  of  the  cause. 

"  He  believed  in  the  educational  methods  of  temperance  work,  and 
gave  his  unqualified  approbation  to  those  organizations  that  adhere  to 
special  agencies,  moral,  educational,  and  religious.  In  this  he  exhibited 
a  broad  and  catholic  spirit  which  is  worthy  of  imitation.  In  an  hour  of 
perplexity,  a  friend  said  to  him,  '  I  am  willing  to  die  for  the  temperance 
work,'  and  the  reply  of  the  great  leader  was,  '  It  is  easy  and  cowardly 
to  die  ;  it  is  brave  to  live  and  conquer.' 

"  I  knew  Mr.  Finch  in  his  home — a  fond  husband  and  an  affectionate 
father.  The  saddened  household,  what  a  shadow  has  fallen  there  !  the 
memories  of  his  home  life,  how  they  linger  like  the  evening  shadows  of 
the  setting  sun  on  the  autumnal  sky  !  The  remembrance  of  his  loving 
and  devoted  life  is  the  best  legacy  left  to  the  sorrowing  wife  and  father- 
less boy.  What  a  precious  bequest,  priceless  above  rubies  ! 

"  I  would  not  claim  for  him  perfection  of  character,  but  I  do  feel  that 
he  ranked  among  the  truest  and  the  best. 

"  We  miss  him — his  smiling  face  and  his  happy  greeting  ;  but  amid 
the  sorrow  of  his  absence  we  remember  that  our  loss  is  his  gain.  His 


470  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

spirit  is  in  the  presence  of  Him  who  is  '  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  whose 
right  hand  are  pleasures  forevermore.' 

"  '  We  too  must  come  to  the  river  side, 

One  by  one  !  one  by  one  ! 
We  are  nearer  its  waters  each  eventide, 

Yes,  one  by  one. 

The  waves  of  the  river  are  dark  and  cold, 
We  know  not  the  place  where  our  feet  may  hold. 
O  Thou,  who  didst  pass  through  the  deepest  midnight, 
Now  guide  us,  and  send  us  the  staff  and  light. 
Gathering  home  !  gathering  home  ! 

Fording  the  river  one  by  one, 
Gathering  home  !  gathering  home  ! 
Yes,  one  by  one.'  " 

ADDRESS    OF    MRS.    HELEN    G.    EICE,    FOK    THE    WOMAN'S 
CHRISTIAN  TEMPERANCE  UNION. 

"We,  members  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  are 
wont  to  call  each  other  sisters  ;  and  it  is  no  mere  form  of  speech,  for 
to  stand  heart  to  heart  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  high  and  holy  pur- 
pose gives  a  sense  of  kinship  not  less  true  and  tender  than  does  the  tie 
of  blood.  We  are  wont  also  to  speak  of  the  husbands  of  these  sisters, 
loyal  as  ourselves  '  to  God,  and  home,  and  native  land,'  as  the  good 
brothers-in-law  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  So  it 
is  most  fitting  that  the  White  Ribbon  household  should  be  represented  in 
this  memorial  service  to-day  ;  for  John  B.  Finch  was  one  of  the  family, 
a  brother  beloved. 

"  How  well  I  recall  the  first  time  that  I  ever  saw  his  face  and  heard 
his  voice,  in  that  grand  meeting  at  Tremont  Temple,  when  he  shared  the 
time  with  Colonel  Bain  and  Governor  St.  John  !  Still  more  vividly  rises 
before  me  an  evening  a  little  later,  when  a  nearer  view  of  him  led  me  to 
say  to  the  friend  beside  me  :  '  Mr.  Finch  must  be  a  good  man,  for  his 
goodness  is  stamped  upon  his  countenance  ;  it  was  worth  the  time  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  471 

trouble  of  coming  here  to-night  to  see  the  rare  sweetness  of  his  smile  ; ' 
and  my  friend  replied  :  '  It  was  the  best  temperance  address  that  I  ever 
heard.' 

"  Since  then  his  name  has  become  a  household  word  in  scores  of  New 
England  homes,  and 

"  '  Many  a  [tear  and]  blessing  went 

With  [him]  beneath  that  low,  green  tent, 
Whose  curtain  never  outward  swings.* 

"  An  English  writer  has  said  :  '  There  is  no  good  man's  heart  that 
has  not  a  little  of  the  woman  in  it,'  and  our  brother  surely  had 

"  '  That  gentleness 
Which,  when  it  weds  with  manhood, 
Makes  a  man.' 

"  True  and  tender  to  all  women,  he  had  the  nobleness  of  soul  to  dis- 
cern all  their  possibilities,  and  to  rejoice  in  all  that  they  had  accom- 
plished. By  the  sense  of  personal  loss  which  his  sudden  going  has 
brought  to  each  White  Eibbon  woman,  we  know  something  of  the  shadow 
which  rests  upon  the  home  he  loved,  where  the  wife  sits  in  the  desola- 
tion of  her  young  widowhood,  and  clasps  to  her  arms  her  fatherless  boy. 
May  the  dear  Lord  comfort  and  shield  them. 

"  '  So  young,'  we  all  said,  as  the  sudden  tidings  reached  us,  '  to  be 
called  away  from  his  labors  ; '  but  for  God's  children  there  are  no  un- 
timely deaths,  no  unfinished  lives,  and,  '  counting  time  by  heart-throbs,' 
Mr.  Finch  had  lived  longer  than  many  a  man  who  has  rounded  out  his 
threescore  years  and  ten.  Rather  let  us  say,  '  So  greatly  honored,  to  be 
thus  early  promoted  to  the  higher  service.' 

"  '  Undaunted  he  fell. 
Not  in  the  winter  of  age  bending  low  ; 
Wasted  and  worn  in  the  summer's  warm  glow ; 
Strong  in  his  manhood,  hope  gilding  his  sky, 
In  the  pathway  of  duty  he  sank  down  to  di«i 
Undaunted  he  fell  I ' 


472  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  It  would  be  wise  for  the  young  manhood  of  this  nation,  enfeebling 
its  powers  to  such  an  extent  physically,  mentally,  and  spiritually,  with 
the  nicotine  and  alcoholic  habits,  and  other  follies  of  the  day,  to  gaze 
upon  this  splendid  example  of  what  a  man  may  be  when  he  learns  '  to 
think  God's  thoughts  after  Him,'  and  to  work  in  harmony  with  God's 
plan  ;  a  gentle  man,  and  yet  a  masterful  man,  who  could  sway  audiences 
at  his  will,  his  great  power  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  dared  to  be  '  in  the 
right  with  two  or  three.' 

"  When  the  truth  took  possession  of  him,  it  was  like  a  fire  in  his 
bones,  which  must  find  outward  expression.  So  he  could  stand  out 
before  this  nation  the  living  embodiment  of  a  great  principle,  while  the 
multitude  passed  by  on  the  other  side. 

"  It  was  not  in  God's  purpose  that  he  should  live  to  see  this  great 
principle  triumph,  and  to  hear  the  sneers  of  the  populace  change  to 
plaudits  ;  but  he  whom  God  crowns  victor  on  the  eternal  heights  can 
miss  nothing  of  earthly  honors.  Ours  is  the  precious  legacy  of  his 
brave,  wise  words,  which  will  help  the  cause  he  loved  for  all  the  days 

to  come. 

"  '  All  is  not  dead. 

Still  in  your  midst  the  best  lingers  to-day 
Of  the  loved  and  departed,  untouched  by  decay. 
The  virtues  he  cherished  yet  live,  and  will  last 
When  the  scenes  of  the  present  are  lost  in  the  past. 
All  is  not  dead  1' 

"  '  Pause  now  and  weep  ! 
Weep  for  our  [hero],  lost  to  our  sight ; 
Nobly  he  toiled  for  us  ;  gave  of  his  might. 
Ye  may  search  for  his  like  as  long  years  circle  round, 
But  a  loftier  spirit  will  never  be  found. 
Pause  now  and  weep.1 

"  But,  after  all,  the  crowning  glory  of  this  man  was  that  he  had  en- 
throned Christ  in  his  heart.  Loyalty  to  the  Master  made  his  gentleness 
more  gentle,  his  bravery  more  brave,  and  himself  like  unto  those  who 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  R   FINCH.  473 

wait  for  their  Lord  with  loins   girt   about  and   lamps   trimmed  and 

burning. 

" '  Christian,  farewell ! 

As  ready  for  death  as  true  in  thy  life, 
No  danger  appalled  thee  in  [bitterest]  strife. 
With  tears  we  commit  the  dear  form  to  the  sod, 
The  dust  to  the  earth,  the  spirit  to  God. 
Christian,  farewell  I'  " 


ADDKESS  OF  KEY.  J.  W.  HAMILTON,  D.D. 

"  MB.  CHAIRMAN  :  This  is  the  soldier's  farewell.  "We  are  a  company 
of  comrades  met  to  say  last  words  over  a  hero's  grave.  John  B.  Finch 
was  an  officer  commanding  in  the  field,  when  and  where  death  met  him. 
He  fell  with  his  sword  drawn  and  face  to  the  foe.  If  ever 

"  '  Thebes,  Epaminondas  rears  again, 

When  Grecian  mothers  give  birth  to  men,' 

it  was  when  this  fair  land  raised  up  this  man,  and  gave  him  to  the  tem- 
perance reform. 

"  He  was  every  inch  a  man — a  manly  man.  He  was  a  foeman  worthy 
of  Damascus  steel.  Money  could  not  bribe  him,  mere  friendship  per- 
suade him,  nor  could  political  preferment  move  him. 

"He  was  a  brave  man,  he  cared  little  for  majorities.  Righteousness 
with  him  was  no  uncertain  sovereignty.  His  first  gun  in  every  campaign 
was  the  canon  of  Sacred  Scripture,  and  the  monument  he  would  build 
on  the  battle-field  of  his  last  victory  would  be  the  tombstone  of  the  last 
saloon.  There  is  a  Scandinavian  legend  that  there  was  once  a  giantess 
and  she  had  a  daughter  who,  when  wandering  in  the  field,  found  a  hus- 
bandman ploughing.  She  picked  him  up,  with  his  horses  and  plough, 
between  her  thumb  and  finger,  and  tossing  him  into  her  apron  she  has- 
tened to  her  home,  and  said  :  '  Mother,  what  beetle  is  this  I  found  wrig- 
gling in  the  sand  ?  '  and  she  replied  :  '  Daughter,  this  is  a  brave  man 
come  from  a  brave  people,  who  will  soon  possess  the  land.  We  must  be 


474  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

gone  from  here.'  "When  the  man  whom  we  honor  to-day  first  stood 
upon  our  platform,  we  were  few  and  feared  by  none.  It  was  in  the 
sneerful  period  of  our  history.  Some  there  were  who  spoke  triflingly  of 
the  youthful  aspirant.  But  others  there  were,  wise  men  in  the  political 
parties,  once  they  had  measured  him  and  weighed  his  cause,  who  saga- 
ciously said  :  '  He  is  a  brave  man,  come  from  a  brave  people,  who  will 
soon  possess  this  land.  We  must  be  gone  from  here.' 

"  He  was  a  sincere  and  earnest  man  in  all  his  dealings  with  the  great 
tragedy  of  human  kind  enacted  by  the  drink  habit.  We  have  been 
charged  with  much  trifling.  Speakers  we  have  had  who  ofttimes  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  public  audiences  in  only  a  humorous  vein  ;  but 
there  was  no  trifling  by  this  man.  He  was  an  honest,  sober  man,  and 
I  have  heard  my  brother  Miner  say  he  would  go  a  long  journey  on  seri- 
ous business.  I  love  to  think  of  him  now  as  I  have  seen  him  stand  in 
the  majesty  of  his  custom  before  the  assembled  thousands  who  not  in- 
frequently came  to  hear  him.  I  may  say  of  him  as  Byron  has  some- 
where said,  that  there  he  stood, 

"  '  Simple,  erect,  severe,  austere,  sublime.' 

"  He  was  a  strong  man  and  a  sagacious  leader.  He  commanded  the 
respect  of  all  his  opponents.  I  have  said  elsewhere  that  he  was  a  states- 
man—the statesman  of  this  reform.  There  were  no  tricks  of  the  orator 
about  him.  He  wielded  the  sinews  of  war,  he  set  siege  to  the  citadels 
of  rum  and  won  his  battles  by  main  force. 

"  He  was  a  great  commander.  It  has  been  said  that  it  was  not  until 
the  Prussian  drill-master,  Steuben  (I  believe),  had  introduced  drill  and 
discipline  into  our  American  armies  that  they  could  withstand  any 
respectable  force  ;  so  this  man,  when  we  were  scattered  and  disorgan- 
ized, came  with  his  sagacity,  and  not  only  his  sagacity  to  see  the  weak 
places  in  the  walled  cities  of  his  enemies,  but  sagacity  to  discover  the 
weakness  and  aimlessness  of  our  own  numbers  ;  and  as  a  great  tactician 
he  introduced  the  skilful  management  by  which  he  drew  the  men  to- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  J3.  FINCH.  475 

gether  and  held  them  about  him  as  a  great  general  holds  his  armies  in 
his  command.  He  then  sought  out  strong  men,  daring  to  wrestle  with 
their  great  manoeuvres  and  standing  armies,  willing  to  carry  his  cause  to 
the  people,  and  trust  to  that  '  silent  conspiracy  of  the  sensible '  which 
sooner  or  later  must  settle  this  cruel  war,  as  every  other  war  against  sin 
and  sinning.  There  he  was  willing  to  leave  his  forces  and  die.  He 
engaged  in  great  intellectual  conflicts,  and  because  it  was  a  moral  con- 
test in  which  he  was  engaged  he  never  wavered,  believing  that  the  right 
was  invincible  and  must  prevail. 

"  He  was  a  gentleman.  As  a  brother  he  was  regarded  by  his  fellow- 
workmen,  and  our  sisters  honored  him  because  they  recognized  in  him 
the  gentleman.  It  was  for  this  cause  that  his  opponents  could  not  com- 
plain of  him.  It  could  be  said  of  him  as  of  his  Master,  '  Thy  gentleness 
hath  made  thee  great. ' 

"  He  was  a  Christian  man.  No  one  who  engages  in  God's  work  can 
certainly  succeed  until  he  first  surrenders  himself  to  God's  will.  This 
is  God's  work,  and  this  man  is  God's  workman.  To  that  class  of  pagan 
Christians  among  us  who  make  traffic  of  the  blood  and  tears  and  cries 
of  men,  women,  and  children,  he  was  the  firm  and  stately  '  Delhi,  with 
his  cap  of  terror  on.'  After  the  straitest  sect  of  our  religion  he  lived  a 
Methodist.  I  repeat  he  was  a  Christian  man. 

"But  I  was  not  to  speak  at  length,  and  with  my  last  word  I  have 
done.  My  brother, 

"  '  Farewell  I    If  ever  fondest  prayer 
For  others'  weal  availed  on  high, 
Mine  will  not  all  be  lost  in  air, 
But  waft  thy  name  beyond  the  sky.'  " 

ADDRESS  OF   REV.  A.  A.  MINER,  D.D. 

'  John  B.  Finch  was  a  strong  man  with  a  tender  heart.  His  sympa- 
thies were  as  broad  as  the  race,  and  yet  he  had  nerves  of  steel.  Honest 
in  every  fibre  of  his  being,  he  readily  marked  the  shuffling  of  others. 


476  fHE  LIFE  OP  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  Mr.  Finch  saw  clearly  the  woes  flowing  from  the  drink  traffic  and 
drinking  usages  of  society.  The  wife's  careworn  face,  the  children's 
pleading  look,  the  poverty-stricken  home — all  summoned  him  to  heroic 
effort.  The  world  was  asleep  ;  he  would  awake  it.  The  Church  was 
apathetic  ;  he  would  arouse  it  to  life.  Our  politics  were  corrupt  ;  he 
would  revolutionize  and  purify  them. 

"  This  could  not  be  done  by  either  of  the  old  parties.  They  were 
organized  for  other  purposes.  They  are  divided  on  this.  Their  busi- 
ness is  at  an  end.  There  is  no  issue  in  which  the  members  of  either 
party  are  agreed.  The  offices  are  the  goal  of  all  effort.  No  matter  how 
threatening  the  condition  of  things,  the  first  step  in  reform  cannot  be 
taken  without  hazard  to  party  success.  The  one  party  will  not  make  a 
change  ;  the  other  cannot. 

"  This  fact  Mr.  Finch  clearly  perceived.  All  the  professions  of  reform 
put  forth  by  the  dominant  party  of  the  State  are  ambiguous  and  incom- 
plete. If  they  had  had  any  prohibitory  purpose,  thirty  years'  history 
would  have  made  it  manifest.  We  should  have  no  occasion  to  take 
promises  of  intention  to  do  something,  in  place  of  things  done. 

"  The  truth  is,  public  confidence  is  gone.  The  enthusiasm  awakened 
by  Mrs.  Livermore's  announcement  the  other  night  shows  the  trend  of 
public  thought.  She  had  long  wrestled  with  the  problem  of  duty.  She 
felt  that  she  was  not  in  the  right  position.  She  continued  to  hope 
against  hope.  Duty  became  too  plain  to  be  longer  resisted.  The  Re- 
publican Party  is  repudiated  by  her.  Tens  of  thousands  are  standing 
where  she  stood,  hesitating  as  she  hesitated,  and  will  at  length  decide 
as  she  decided.  Let  no  man  say  I  am  bringing  politics  into  the  Church. 
I  am  but  turning  rum-ridden  politics  out  of  the  Church. 

"  The  state  of  public  opinion  here  is  but  a  sample  of  the  thought  in 
many  another  quarter.  Mr.  Finch  has  been  largely  instrumental  in 
bringing  about  this  state  of  things.  Ever  since  his  election  as  Chairman 
of  the  National  Prohibitory  Committee,  at  Pittsburg,  in  1884,  he  has  had 
the  conduct  of  the  warfare  in  his  own  hand.  All  the  lines  of  influence  have 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  477 

been  directed  by  him  ;  and  he  possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  con- 
fidence of  all  earnest  prohibitory  workers  in  every  section  of  the  country. 

"  His  visits  to  this  State  and  city  were  frequent  and  always  welcome. 
With  thousands  of  saloons  licensed  by  State  authority,  without  stress  of 
law,  no  wonder  Mr.  Finch  was  a  frequent  visitor  here.  The  lessons  in 
the  various  localities  are  substantially  the  same. 

"  The  failure  to  take  up  the  cause  of  good  order  has  everywhere  placed 
the  Republican  Party  hors  du  combat.  Public  attention  is  called  to  the 
subject  as  never  before.  The  prophecy  that  the  defeat  of  1884  had  put 
back  the  cause  of  prohibition  fifty  years  has  not  been  verified.  The 
contrary  is  true.  It  placed  it  in  the  foreground.  Prohibition  success- 
fully challenges  public  attention  at  every  turn.  And  no  man  is  worthy 
of  higher  honor  in  this  result  than -is  the  man  we  mourn. 

"  But  his  work  is  done,  and  well  done.  The  strength  and  sweetness 
of  his  life  will  remain  with  us  for  many  a  year.  Having  communed  with 
him  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  and  often  in  our  own  city,  and 
having  welcomed  him  a  guest  in  my  own  home,  I  had  learned  to  appre- 
ciate the  straightforwardness,  the  candor  and  transparency  of  purpose 
equally  manifest  in  public  and  in  private  life.  The  memory  he  leaves 
will  be  in  large  measure  a  '  savor  of  life  unto  life. ' 

"  '  Thus  star  by  star  declines,  . 

Till  all  are  passed  away  ; 
As  morning  high  and  higher  shines, 

To  pure  and  perfect  day. 
Nor  sink  those  stars  in  empty  night ; 
They  hide  themselves  in  heaven's  own  light.'  " 

OUE   LAMENTED  LEADER. 

'Tis  sad  indeed — his  loss  to  mourn, 

So  young,  so  helpful  was  our  friend  ; 
We  can  but  wish  he  still  were  here, 

With  fifty  years  or  more  to  spend. 


478  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

A  "  moral  hero  "  came  and  stood 
Foremost  among  the  moral  host ; 

Though  brief  his  service,  he  of  all 
Was  one  we  loved,  revered  the  most. 

His  heart's  condition  well  he  knew, 
But  courage,  duty,  stood  the  test  ; 

No  man  among  us  more  can  do 
Than  give  his  life  that  all  be  blest. 

Perchance  on  him  we  leaned  too  much 
And  shunned,  ourselves,  the  rightful  part, 

That  falls  on  soldiers  in  a  war 

Where  ballots  tell  on  head  and  heart. 

Some,  with  mission  best  performed 
In  early  manhood's  active  years, 

Depart  before  results  are  seen, 
And  leave  us  anxious  with  our  foars  ; 

While  others,  plants  of  slower  growth, 
Beformers  are  past  middle  life, 

And  do  their  best  when  needed  most 
To  gain  the  day  in  peaceful  strife. 

Full  well  we  know  that  Right  must  win, 
And  Justice  triumph  in  the  end  ; 

Though  long  delayed,  we  need  not  fear 
While  earnest  souls  their  spirits  lend. 

The  cause  he  loved  cannot  stand  still, 
The  forceful  motors  are  too  great ; 

What  man  and  woman  both  demand 
Will  come  to  pass  in  every  State. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  479 

And  when  the  jubilee  resounds 

O'er  prohibition — far  and  wide, 
O'er  Freedom  gained  anew  for  all — 

When  North  and  South  stand  side  by  side, 

Let  him  whose  loss  we  mourn  to-day 

Receive  due  credit  for  his  part  ; 
Let  monumental  tablet  tell 

The  cause  that  lay  so  near  his  heart. 

GEORGE  KEMPTON. 

At  the  National  Prohibition  Conference  in  Chicago 
November  30th  and  December  1st,  the  first  evening  was 
devoted  to  the  memory  of  John  B.  Finch. 

Frances  E.  Willard  made  the  principal  address,  and  was 
followed  by  General  Clinton  B.  Fisk  and  others.  Miss 
Willard  said  : 

"  As  a  child  Mr.  Finch  was  so  ethereal,  of  a  spirit  so  sportive  and  an 
alertness  so  surprising,  that  they  called  him  '  Bird ; '  and  this  was  his  only 
name  unfil,  at  three  years  old,  he  rebelled  against  it  as  '  not  fit  for  a 
boy,'  and  said  :  '  My  name  is  John,'  to  which  he  steadily  adhered.  We 
who  now  learn  for  the  first  time  what  B.  stood  for  in  his  name  can  see 
in  it  a  prophecy  of  that  multitudinous  nature  of  which  we  were  so 
proud,  in  which  the  flashing  eagle  of  argument  did  not  dismay  the  full- 
voiced  nightingale  of  rhetoric  or  the  winsome  dove  of  pathos. 

"  Indeed,  I  used  sometimes  playfully  to  speak  of  this  brilliant,  tune- 
ful song-bird  of  the  choir  as  our  '  Temperance  Gold-Finch. '  We  do  not 
wonder  that  the  same  imperial  will  and  pronounced  individuality  that 
even  in  early  childhood  chose  its  own  name  has  since,  by  its  splendid 
achievements,  made  that  name  known  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  so 
that  to-day  in  Finland  and  Tasmania,  in  Stockholm  and  Madras,  Good 
Templars  wear  the  mourning  badge  for  John  Bird  Finch. 


480  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  But  though  he  took  first  rank  on  the  platform,  as  he  did  in  teach- 
ing, he  was  a  born  journalist,  and  his  first  public  reputation  as  a  young 
man  opposed  to  dram-shops  resulted  from  his  articles  in  a  local  paper 
of  Marathon,  N.  Y.  Work  on  the  temperance  platform  could  not  then 
be  relied  upon  as  a  means  of  support  by  a  young  man  wholly  dependent 
upon  his  own  exertions,  so  our  hero  went  on  teaching  and  had  much 
reputation  in  county  conventions  and  teachers'  institutes.  At  one  of 
these,  held  in  Cortland,  he  was  secretary,  and  here  Miss  Frances  Man- 
chester came  to  pass  her  examination  for  a  certificate.  He  looked  up 
and  asked  her  name  ;  thus  they  became  acquainted  ;  and  to  this  lady, 
whose  bright,  intrepid  spirit  has  helped  him  on  in  every  good  word  and 
work,  he  was  married  in  May,  1876.  To  her  was  given  the  loyal  love  of 
his  strong  manhood,  and  with  her  he  shared  the  multiplying  triumphs 
of  his  great  career. 

"  We  now  see  these  two  going  together  out  into  the  temperance  har- 
vest of  their  native  commonwealth,  where,  in  Buffalo  and  many  other 
towns  and  cities,  rapidly  grew  the  reputation  of  this  brilliant  orator  of 
twenty -four.  In  1877  they  went  to  Nebraska,  where  John  led  the  Red 
Ribbon  movement,  spoke  sixty  successive  nights  in  the  Opera  House  at 
Omaha,  and  in  the  State  won  sixty  thousand  names  to  the  iron  clad 
pledge,  while  everywhere  the  masses  flocked  to  hear  him. 

"  In  1881  John  B.  Finch  appeared  for  the  first  time  at  Lake  Bluff,  that 
Mecca  of  our  leaders.  His  speech  at  once  betrayed  him  as  a  logician 
without  rivals.  His  great  book,  'The  People  vs.  the  Liquor  Traffic,' 
proclaimed  him  chieftain  of  pen  as  well  as  voice.  He  was  central  figure 
at  Farwell  Hall  in  the  mid-term  Convention  of  the  Prohibition  Party 
held  in  1882.  In  1884  he  blazed  out  on  the  assembled  leaders  of  the 
national  temperance  movement  at  the  Pittsburg  Convention,  where  Gov- 
ernor St.  John  was  laid  upon  the  altar  of  our  sacred  cause.  During  that 
great  campaign,  in  all  the  awful  strife,  and  through  the  battle  smoke, 
two  martial  figures  fought  at  the  fore,  John  Finch  and  John  St.  John, 
against  the  forces  of  the  demijohn. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  481 

"  In  the  notable  debate  of  1884,  where  he  demolished  the  arguments 
of  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  and  vindicated  the  principles  and  plans  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  Brother  Finch  endeared  himself  to  all 
White  Ribboners.  In  the  non-partisan  campaigns  in  Maine,  Ehode 
Island,  Michigan,  and  Tennessee,  and  that  memorable  debate  with  D. 
Bethune  Duffield  in  Detroit,  his  flashing  sword  made  him  our  Henry  of 
Navarre. 

"  But  it  was  the  chief  marvel  of  his  marvellous  life  that  the  man  who 
stood  first  in  the  legal  temperance  movement  should  win  his  crowning 
victory  as  the  central  figure  of  the  movement  on  its  moral  suasion  side. 
Having  had  a  teacher's  training,  he  always  believed  that  the  drink  habit 
and  the  liquor  traffic  find  their  surest  bulwark  in  the  people's  ignorance 
of  natural  law.  Hence  it  was  his  earnest  purpose  to  introduce  educa- 
tional methods  into  the  Good  Templars'  Order,  and  he  worked  hard, 
assisted  by  his  trusty  counsellors,  to  arrange  a  course  of  reading  and 
study  for  the  members.  Under  police  protection  he  saw  the  night  side 
of  our  large  cities,  and  studied  the  consequences  of  strong  drink  in 
police  courts  and  institutions  for  the  defective,  dependent,  and  delin- 
quent classes.  He  studied  beer  with  special  care,  its  nature  and  effects, 
finding  that  the  most  impure  living  and  most  brutal  murders  resulted 
from  its  use.  As  a  consequence  of  these  investigations  he  came  to 
believe  it  the  most  demoralizing  of  drinks,  and  warned  the  people  against 
beer  mugs  in  the  home  and  beer  casks  in  politics  as  the  chief  curse  of 
America  and  constant  companion  of  anarchy  and  kindred  crimes. 

"  Devoted  and  loyal  as  he  was  to  the  Prohibition  Party,  earnest  in  the 
Ked  Kibbon  work,  brotherly  and  true  to  the  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,  the  first,  last,  longest  love  of  John  B.  Finch's  life  was 
his  love  for  the  Good  Templars.  David  was  not  nearer  to  Jonathan  nor 
Naomi  to  Kuth.  He  was  devoted  to  that  society  as  we  women  are  de- 
voted to  our  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  It  is  the  strongest 
proof  of  his  affluent  brain  that  he  could,  at  one  time,  lead  the  two  wings 
of  our  mighty  temperance  army,  but  it  is  the  strongest  proof  of  his  true 


482  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

heart  that  his  best  love  was  given  to  the  one  that  he  had  earliest  known 
and  that  had  longest  cherished  him. 

' '  Unconsciously  we  all  our  lives  sit  to  be  photographed  before  the 
camera  of  public  opinion,  and  when  we  disappear  the  negatives  are 
taken  to  death's  dark  closet,  where  they  are  developed  and  then  printed 
by  the  sunshine  of  that  kindliness  in  human  hearts  which  holds  them 
from  speaking  anything  but  good  of  the  departed. 

"A  POLITICIAN   WITH   A   CONSCIENCE. 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  a  natural  politician,  but  he  was  that  rare  and 
masterly  creation,  a  politician  with  a  conscience.  Beared  in  the  Demo- 
cratic Party,  and  sure  to  have  won  promotion  there,  he  parted  company 
with  his  old  comrades  when  they  struck  hands  with  the  saloon-keepers. 

' '  There  was  another  trait  of  his  which  I  certainly  cannot  pass  by  in 
silence — he  had  profound  faith  in  woman.  He  believed  she  could  do 
anything  she  chose,  and  wanted  her  to  have  the  chance.  Once,  soon 
after  their  marriage,  Mrs.  Finch  heard  a  lady  speak  in  a  temperance 
convention,  and  she,  turning  to  her  husband,  whispered,  '  How  can  she 
do  that  ? '  But  he  answered,  '  The  time  will  come  when  you  can  do  the 
same.'  He  had  a  pride  in  his  wife's  ability  to  buy  and  sell,  to  keep 
their  bank  account,  and  pay  their  taxes.  He  willed  all  he  had  to  her, 
and  made  her  the  executor  of  his  estate,  and  she  says  no  words  of  his 
are  more  familiar  than  his  bright,  '  Oh,  yes,  Puss,  you  can  do  that ! ' 
Soon  after  their  marriage  Mrs.  Finch  had  occasion  to  declare  her  belief 
in  the  enfranchisement  of  women,  when  her  husband  said  to  her,  '  I 
believe  just  as  you  do.' 

"  His  wife  said  recently  to  me  :  '  The  first  thing  when  he  came  from 
his  long  journeyings  was  a  romp  with  little  John.  I  called  them  my  two 
boys.  He  was  social,  jolly,  affectionate.  Then  he  and  I  would  settle 
down  to  desk  work,  for  I  was  his  secretary,  knew  all  about  his  plans, 
and  spent  my  whole  time  helping  him  to  work  them  out,  He  had  th« 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  483 

happiest  life  I  ever  knew  ;  he  loved  his  home,  delighted  in  his  work, 
and  never  borrowed  trouble.' 

"  This  is  her  testimony  who,  with  a  Spartan's  courage,  has  triumphed 
over  the  weakness  induced  by  the  first  terrific  shock  when  she  knew 
that  her  strong  staff  was  broken,  and  her  beautiful  rod.  God  bless  Mrs. 
John  B.  Finch,  of  whom  our  work  will  hear  more  as  time  goes  on.  She 
has  been  truly  a  helpmeet  for  her  husband,  a  woman  of  individuality 
and  strength.  As  loyal  and  true  as  we  are  to  his  grand  memory  who  has 
so  swiftly  vanished  from  that  lovely  home,  so  true  and  loyal  will  we  be 
to  thee,  our  sister  and  our  friend  ! 

"Mrs.  Finch  and  her  Imsband  were  comrades  always.  It  was  with 
his  full  sympathy  she  entered  the  University  at  Evanston,  graduating 
from  our  school  of  oratory,  and  Brother  Finch  came  there  to  live  in 
1884  chiefly  because  it  was  her  wish.  She  and  I  have  long  been  friends, 
and  I  first  knew  through  her  of  Brother  Finch's  malady.  She  said, 
'  I  must  study  and  be  able  to  take  care  of  myself  and  little  John,  for  my 
husband's  life  hangs  on  a  thread.' 

' '  I  shall  never  forget  her  language  when  I  saw  her  first  after  the 
thunderbolt  had  fallen.  She  said  :  '  I  thought  I  could  not  bear  it  ;  the 
world  rolled  from  beneath  my  feet  ;  but  I  have  prayed  much,  and  I  have 
had  a  vision  of  my  husband,  who  smiled  upon  me  and  said  :  "  Live  for 
Johnny's  sake."  ' 

"  To  those  of  us  who  were  often  at  conventions  or  summer  camps  no 
memory  is  more  familiar  than  Brother  Finch  with  little  John,  his  only 
child,  so  strongly  like  his  father,  seated  upon  his  knee  or  perched  upon 
his  shoulder.  A  more  fatherly  spirit  I  never  knew  than  that  of  our  de- 
parted chief.  The  boy  was  all  in  all  to  him  ;  never  seemed  in  his  way, 
or  other  than  fondly  welcome,  even  in  his  busiest  hours.  And  I  want 
to  say  to  night  to  little  John  that  he  has  as  many  friends  as  there  are 
temperance  people  in  the  nation  ;  the  Prohibitionists  will  still  bear  him 
in  their  arms  and  carry  him  upon  their  shoulders,  and  if  he  grows  up 
as  clean,  as  pure  and  earnest  as  his  father  was,  we  shall  all  be  more  than 


484  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

glad  to  help  John  D.  Finch  to  any  good  or  any  greatness  within  his 
power  to  gain. 

"  It  goes  without  saying  that  Brother  Finch  was  an  indefatigable  stu- 
dent. The  Pullman  car  was  his  study,  its  swift  motion  keeping  time  to 
his  tireless  thoughts.  He  had  great  power  of  concentration.  When  he 
was  studying  one  might  speak  to  him  a  dozen  times  and  he  never  knew 
that  he  had  been  addressed  at  all.  He  was  a  brancher  out  ;  he  had  in- 
tellectual hardihood  ;  read  both  sides  of  a  question  ;  had  a  surprising 
grip  of  memory,  and  great  skill  in  the  mechanic  arts  ;  could  run  a  loco- 
motive as  well  as  a  party  and  dissect  a  cadaver  and  a  fallacy  with  equal 
readiness.  He  had  a  temperance  library  second  to  none  and  the  only 
complete  collection  in  the  world  of  books  and  journals  pertaining  to 
Good  Templary.  He  had  a  choice  law  library  and  a  collection  of  the 
chief  poets  and  novelists,  in  both  of  which  he  was  well  read.  His  favor- 
ite books,  aside  from  our  temperance  standards,  were  Guizot's  and  Ban- 
croft's histories,  Lieber's  '  Civil  Liberty  '  and  '  Civil  Government,'  also 
his  'Political  Ethics;'  Freeman's  'Comparative  Politics, '  Von  Hoist's 
'  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,'  John  Stuart  Mill's  '  Politi- 
cal Economy,'  Draper's  '  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,'  Bancroft's 
'  History  of  the  Constitution.' 

"  With  a  memory  furnished  by  the  careful  study  of  such  books  as 
these,  and  full  of  the  thoughts  they  struck  out  from  his  own  mind  like 
sparks  from  steel,  he  was  always  ready  to  speak,  and  could  put  the  fill- 
ing into  the  warp  while  he  was  upon  the  platform.  It  was  his  wont  to 
walk  back  and  forth  with  hands  behind  him  while  preparing  his  many 
studied  efforts. 

"  He  was  of  generous  nature,  willing  to  divide,  quick  to  ask  forgive- 
ness or  to  grant  it.  He  never  measured  people  by  what  they  said,  but 
by  their  deeds.  His  wife  pays  him  the  matchless  tribute  of  these 
words  :  '  He  was  the  purest  man  in  body  and  mind  I  ever  knew.'  For 
myself,  I  judge  men  and  women  most  by  the  company  they  keep,  and 
this  I  know  :  Three  of  the  gentlest,  strongest,  truest  men  I  ever  met 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  485 

have  borne  to  me  the  warmest  commendation  of  John  B.  Finch's  char- 
acter and  daily  life,  and  the  men  stood  as  close  to  him  as  brothers. 
They  are  A.  J.  Jutkins,  Samuel  D.  Hastings,  .and  George  W.  Bain. 

"  Dear  friends  and  brothers,  his  character  has  grown  upon  me  as  I 
studied  it  the  more.  He  was  greater  than  we  knew  ;  he  was  better  even 
than  we  thought.  Men  said  he  was  ambitious  ;  but  since  he  went  away 
the  secret  compact  that  he  made  with  leaders  to  accept  no  preferment 
has  come  to  light.  Men  said  he  was  sometimes  impatient  and  severe  ; 
but  since  he  went  away  we  know  about  the  ticking  of  the  death-watch 
in  his  tortured  heart  ;  it  explains  utterances  that  he  regretted  more  than 
any  other  could.  Men  who  were  false  and  jealous  lied  about  him,  but 
in  the  fierce  light  that  beats  upon  all  the  thrones  of  power  he  stood 
unscathed. 

"  And  he  is  gone  whom  temperance  people  so  often  called  '  the  mighty 
Finch.'  I  cannot  make  him  dead.  He  was  one  of  the  livest  men  I  ever 
saw.  My  thought  and  prayers  are  often  with  his  dear  wife  and  little 
John." 

On  Sunday  evening,  December  4th,  the  District  Lodge  of 
the  thirteenth  district  of  Illinois,  of  which  Mr.  Finch  was  a 
member,  held  a  memorial  service  in  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  Chicago.  George  C.  Christian,  ex- 
Governor  St.  John,  and  Frank  J.  Sibley  made  short  ad- 
dresses. 

Mr.  Sibley  said  : 

"  After  the  tongue  of  eloquence  has  uttered  its  most  touching  tributes 
to  the  memory  of  John  B.  Finch  ,  after  the  pen  has  painted  its  fairest 
memorials  of  his  matchless  manhood  ;  after  the  muse  in  marvellous 
melody  has  taught  the  harp  to  trill  new  sad  cadences  to  the  name  of  our 
lost  leader,  it  seems  hardly  fitting  that  less  eloquent  tongues  or  pens 


486  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

should  take  up  the  lamentation,  or  less  skillful  fingers  touch  the  harp- 
strings,  expecting  to  awaken  a  new  symphony  of  sorrow. 

"  We  gather  here  to-night,  as  the  high  and  the  humble  are  gather- 
ing in  a  dozen  kingdoms  and  countries,  in  both  hemispheres,  to  com- 
memorate in  our  own  way,  as  they  have  done  in  theirs,  the  wisdom 
and  the  virtues  of  our  dead  chieftain. 

"  Good  Templary  claims  John  B.  Finch  as  peculiarly  its  own  ;  its 
child,  its  brother,  and  its  father  ;  its  pupil  and  its  teacher  ;  its  comrade 
and  its  leader. 

"  Possessed  of  the  same  broad  charity  and  brotherhood  that  animates 
the  Order  that  he  so  ably  represented  and  so  earnestly  loved,  he  was 
always  ready  to  encourage  and  aid  every  worker  in  any  other  department 
of  temperance  endeavor.  If  any  temperance  organization  was  assailed, 
it  had  but  to  call  our  chief,  and  his  answer  to  the  call  was  prompt  and 
sure. 

"  Wherever  a  great  contest  was  pending  for  the  principles  of  the 
reform  and  against  the  forces  of  the  liquor  power,  John  B.  Finch  was 
ever  to  be  found  at  the  front  hewing  his  resistless  way  with  the  keen 
cimeter  of  truth  and  unanswerable  logic  through  the  bulwarks  of  false 
philosophy  the  enemy  had  reared.  It  mattered  not  to  him  whether  the 
battle  was  waged  in  the  name  of  Good  Templary  or  in  the  name  of  the 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  the 
Red  Eibbon  movement,  or  the  Prohibition  Party,  he  was  ready  for  the 
fight,  and,  in  the  name  of  God,  helped  to  win  the  victory. 

"  After  the  long  and  severe  campaigns  he  loved  to  return  to  the  lodge- 
rooms  of  the  Order  honored  by  his  leadership.  It  seemed  that  there, 
best  of  all  places  in  the  world,  the  weary  warrior  from  the  moral  battle- 
field could  find  rest,  as  the  strong  man,  buffeted  by  the  world's  storms, 
can  find  sweetest  peace  in  his  boyhood's  home. 

"But  rest  for  such  a  man  meant  no  idle  folding  of  the  hands.  In 
every  Good  Templar  Lodge  he  visited,  and  at  every  visit,  he  left  the 
imprint  of  his  ever-active  thought.  As  the  drop  of  ink  flowing  from 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  487 

the  pen  of  genius  embalms  the  thought  that  lives  and  '  makes  men 
think  new  thoughts  forever,'  some  word  of  his  lingers  in  every  lodge  - 
room,  an  inspiration  to  each  true  soul.  .  .  . 

"  As  Good  Templars  and  friends  of  the  cause  he  championed,  we 
gathered  round  his  coffin  in  his  broken  home,  and  bore  it  reverently  to 
Hose  Hill,  where  we  laid  him  to  rest  in  the  eternal  silence  of  the  city  of 
the  dead.  Tears  fell  like  summer  rain  as  the  coffin-lid  closed,  and  all 
that  was  mortal  of  John  B.  Finch  was  forever  shut  from  our  gaze. 

"  To-night  as  we  meet  to  honor  his  memory  the  winds  are  singing  a 
requiem  round  his  tomb,  and  our  sad  hearts  respond  to  the  sorrow- 
ful moan,  as  we  gather  here  in  the  gloom  to  say  to  our  leader  and  our 
friend  earth's  last '  Good-night,'  while  over  yonder,  in  the  sunlit  land, 
HE  waits  to  give  us  the  Good  Templar  '  welcome '  and  bid  us  '  Good- 
morning'  in  the  kingdom  of  God." 

The  following  tributes  from  eminent  men  and  women 
and  from  the  press  indicate  the  high  esteem  in  which  Mr. 
Finch  was  everywhere  held  and  the  widespread  sorrow  at 
his  loss  : 

ELIZABETH  BOYNTON  HARBERT. 

"  When  solicited  by  a  committee  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  to  say  a  few  words  at  a  '  Memorial  Service '  in  commemoration  of 
the  useful  and  heroic  life  of  Hon.  John  B.  Finch,  the  immortal  lines 
written  by  John  Boyle  O'Reilly,  in  recognition  of  Wendell  Phillips' s 
patriotic  service,  seemed  the  only  phrasing  adequate  to  the  occasion. 
To-day,  as  I  long  to  write  a  fitting  tribute  of  recognition  of  the  life-work 
of  our  loved  friend,  the  same  lines  ring  out  through  the  silence. 

"  '  What  shall  we  mourn  ?    For  the  prostrate  tree 

That  sheltered  the  young,  green  wood  ? 
For  the  fallen  cliff  that  fronted  the  sea, 

And  guarded  the  fields  from  the  flood  t 
For  the  eagle  that  died  in  the  tempest, 

Afar  from  the  eyrie  brood  ? 


488  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  '  Nay  ;  not  for  these  shall  we  weep, 
For  the  silver  cord  must  be  worn 
And  the  golden  fillet  shrink  back  at  last 
And  the  duet  to  its  earth  return  ; 

"  '  And  tears  are  never  for  those  who  die 

With  their  face  to  the  duty  done  ; 
But  we  mourn  for  the  fledglings  left  on  the  waste, 
And  the  fields  where  the  wild  waves  run. 

"  '  From  the  midst  of  the  people  is  stricken 

A  symbol  they  daily  saw 
Set  over  against  the  law  books 
Of  a  higher  than  human  law. 

"  '  For  his  life  was  a  ceaseless  protest 
And  his  voice  was  a  prophet's  cry 
To  be  true  to  the  truth  and  the  faithful, 
Though  the  world  were  arrayed  for  the  lie. 

"  '  Come,  brothers,  here  to  the  burial, 

But  weep  not ;  rather  rejoice 
For  his  fearless  life  and  his  fearless  death  ; 
For  his  true,  unequalled  voice, 

"  '  Like  a  silver  trumpet  sounding 

The  note  of  human  right ; 
For  his  brave  heart  always  ready 
To  enter  the  weak  one's  fight ; 

"  '  For  his  soul  unmoved  by  the  mob's  wild  shout 

Or  the  social  sneer's  disgrace  ; 
For  his  free-born  spirit  that  drew  no  line 
Between  class,  or  creed,  or  race.' 

"  When  the  startling  fact  was  stated  that  this  heroic,  eloquent  young 
leader  had  been  suddenly  removed  from  earth,  with  new  emphasis  came 
the  calm,  unalterable  conviction  of  the  truth  of  immortality,  and  that 
what  we  call  death  is  birth — birth  into  higher  conditions,  more  blessed 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  489 

and  boundless  opportunities  of  service.  Else  is  life  a  cruel  mockery,  an 
utter  failure.  Our  abiding  faith  is,  that  life  is  glorious,  the  second  birth 
into  spiritual  conditions,  a  beneficent  progress,  and  that  John  B.  Finch 
to-day,  free  from  all  disabling  conditions,  lives  and  labors  more  effec- 
tively than  ever  before. 

"  We  think  of  a  bright  summer  day  six  years  ago,  when  in  expectant 
mood  we  waited  in  the  shadow-flecked  tabernacle  at  Lake  Bluff  for  the 
appearance  of  Hon.  George  W.  Bain,  Hon.  John  B.  Finch,  and  Colonel 
George  Woodford,  who  were  to  voice  their  protests  against  the  national 
crime  of  licensing  the  liquor  traffic.  Mr.  Finch  stepped  into  the  sun- 
light with  his  splendid  equipment  of  youth,  grace,  eloquence,  logic,  and 
enthusiasm,  and  as  we  listened  to  the  most  masterly  address  we  had  ever 
heard  upon  this  great  question,  our  mental  verdict  was,  This  young  man 
is  the  Wendell  Phillips  of  the  prohibition  movement. 

"  A  few  months  later  the  opportunity  was  afforded  for  testing  his 
moral  courage  in  connection  with  another  unpopular  reform.  During 
the  excitable  campaign  in  behalf  of  woman  suffrage  in  Nebraska,  at  a 
meeting  held  in  the  Opera  House  in  Lincoln,  Mr.  Finch  presided,  and 
spoke  most  gracious  words  of  welcome  and  God-speed. 

"  While  in  Lincoln  we  attended  a  Sabbath  afternoon  temperance  ser- 
vice, and  the  manner  in  which  he  was  received  showed  clearly  that  this 
young  prophet  was  honored  and  appreciated  at  home. 

"  The  one  sacred  shrine  of  the  philanthropist  and 'the  reformer  is  ever 
his  home.  In  this  Mr.  Finch  was  no  exception. 

"  During  the  last  visit  of  Mr.  Finch  to  Chicago,  it  was  our  pleasure  to 
return  with  himself  and  wife  from  the  city  to  Evanston.  During  the  rido 
mention  was  made  of  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Finch  had  persistently  declined 
an  official  position  tendered  her.  She  said,  '  I  am  determined  not  to  allow 
myself  to  be  so  weighted  with  other  duties  that  I  cannot  aid  Mr.  Finch  in 
every  way  through  the  next  few  years,  for  he  has  promised  that  after  the 
next  campaign  he  will  not  work  so  continuously.'  As  we  separated,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Finch  returning  eagerly  to  their  beautiful  home,  accompanied 


490  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

by  '  little  John, '  my  remark  to  my  husband  was,  '  Is  it  not  beautiful 
when  husband  and  wife  are  thus  united  in  heart,  aim,  interest,  and  life- 
work  ? ' 

"  I  had  feared  that  Mr.  Finch  was  overlooking  the  great  truth  that 
until  the  opinions  of  women  are  crystallized  into  laws,  no  vices  which 
appeal  peculiarly  to  the  tastes  and  passions  of  men  could  be  educated 
out  of  existence  ;  but  a  few  months  before  Mr.  Finch  entered  the  higher 
life,  he  wrote  requesting  that  suffrage  documents  be  sent  South,  and 
letters  were  received  from  Southern  women  reporting  some  of  Mr. 
Finch's  brave  utterances  in  regard  to  the  enfranchisement  of  women  in 
the  most  conservative  Southern  States. 

"  We  rejoiced  to  find  that  upon  this  great  question  also  there  was 
rectitude  of  vision  in  this  young,  intrepid  leader  of  the  prohibition 
forces. 

"  Why  this  brave  soul  was  withdrawn  from  earth  we  know  not,  but  if 
we  believe  in  a  God  of  love,  of  wisdom,  of  omnipotence,  then  must  we 
gather  about  this  open  grave,  not  only  with  resignation,  but  with  solemn 
joy,  knowing  that  infinite  wisdom  and  love,  in  death  as  in  birth,  in  sor- 
row as  in  joy,  in  defeat  as  in  victory,  doeth  all  things  well  ;  that  truth 
and  right  are  omnipotent,  and  that  from  the  beginning  until  the  end  the 
banner  over  us  is  love. 

"With  this  abiding  faith  in  the  omnipotence  of  the  Good,  let  us 
'  never  strike  sail  to  a  fear,  and  put  into  port  bravely  or  sail  with  God 
the  sea.'  " 

EX-GOVERNOR   JOHN   P.  ST.  JOHN. 

"In  my  judgment — based  upon  ten  years'  acquaintance— John  B.  Finch 
was  intellectually  the  peer  of  any  man  of  his  age  in  this  nation.  As  a 
public  speaker,  he  had  no  superior.  As  a  political  leader,  he  was 
aggressive  and  fearless.  Socially,  he  was  warm-hearted  and  generous. 
He  idolized  his  wife  and  boy,  and  when  God  called  him,  they  lost 
their  truest  earthly  friend  and  humanity  one  of  its  ablest  defenders." 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINOS.  491 

JOSEPH  COOK. 

"  John  B.  Finch  fell  dead  in  Boston,  which  has  seen  many  historic 
deaths  ;  but  since  Warren  in  his  early  manhood  fell  at  Bunker  Hill, 
there  is  no  death  of  a  young  man  more  pathetic  than  that  of  this  re- 
former and  hero.  The  soil  of  this  city  is  henceforth  the  more  sacred 
for  having  been  an  altar  on  which  so  costly  a  sacrifice  was  laid. 

"  So  much  fervor  is  rarely  found  combined  with  so  much  caution  as 
his  ;  so  much  impetuosity  with  so  much  gentleness  ;  so  much  restless- 
ness and  daring  with  so  much  sagacity  and  patience.  His  speech  was  a 
mirror  of  his  soul.  His  epigrams  had  marvellous  force.  His  eloquence 
was  a  combination  of  thunderbolt  and  sunbeam.  He  was  a  prophetic 
ray  of  the  dawn  of  a  better  age  than  ours,  which  will  place  his  name 
among  the  jewels  of  its  morning  stars. " 

SAMUEL  DICKIE, 
Chairman  Prohibition  National  Committee. 

"  My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Finch  covered  a  period  of  about  five 
years.  Although  meeting  him  but  seldom,  he  yet  impressed  me  as  a 
remarkable  man. 

"  As  a  platform  speaker,  while  always  clear  and  convincing,  he  could 
be  calm,  cool,  logical,  or,  at  the  demand  of  need,  could  hurry  his  capti- 
vated listeners  as  by  a  storm  of  passion  to  the  desired  end.  As  a  wise 
and  skilful  political  leader,  he  was  unsurpassed.  A  brave  and  true  man 
has  fallen." 

CHAKLES   S.   WOLFE, 

Ex,-  Chairman  Prohibition  Stale  Committee  of  Pennsylvania. 
"His  loss  to  our  cause  seems  irreparable.  No  one  was  so  fully  in- 
formed or  thoroughly  equipped  as  he  for  the  crisis  into  which  we  are 
entering.  Why  does  God  strike  down  our  best  men  at  the  very  time 
they  seem  to  be  most  needed  ?  His  work  and  his  duty  have  been  most 
ably,  faithfully,  and  completely  done.  May  God  have  mercy  upon  those 


492  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  £.   FINCH. 

whose  neglect  of  duty  made  his  work  so  unremitting  and  arduous.  May 
He  make  his  death  even  more  potent  than  his  vigorous  and  fruitful  life, 
in  awakening  slumbering  Christian  patriots  and  philanthropists  to  a 
keen  perception  and  faithful  discharge  of  long-neglected  duty.  May 
God  sustain  and  comfort  his  loved  ones,  and  permit  them  to  see  his 
memory  revered  as  among  the  most  unselfish  and  noblest  patriots  and 
benefactors  of  his  race. " 

DE.  A.  J.  GORDON. 

"  John  B.  Finch  impressed  me  always  when  I  heard  him  as  combin- 
ing to  a  remarkable  degree  boldness  and  gentleness,  firmness  of  convic- 
tion and  charity  of  spirit.  '  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness  and  hated 
iniquity  '  might  well  express  our  tribute  to  him  now  that  he  is  gone. 
With  all  the  intensity  of  his  nature  he  hated  the  traffic,  and  with  all  the 
tenderness  of  his  heart  he  compassionated  its  victims." 

HON.  CHAELES   S.  MAY, 
Ex- Lieutenant- Governor  of  Michigan. 

"  Though  I  did  not  know  John  B.  Finch  personally  and  had  seen  less 
of  him  than  of  many  others,  I  still  could  not  fail  to  be  impressed  by  his 
commanding  abilities.  He  was  a  great  debater  and  a  great  organizer. 

"  It  is  very  sad  and  inscrutable  that  he  should  be  cut  down  just  at  the 
opening  of  a  career  of  such  eminent  usefulness  and  honor.  His  friends 
are  left,  indeed,  with  the  proud  but  pathetic  reflection  that  he  has  fallen, 
like  Quincy  and  Warren,  at  the  dawn  of  another  great  revolution,  which 
his  own  brave  voice  has  helped  to  bring  on. 

"  I  regarded  him  as  the  ablest  of  the  prohibition  leaders." 

MISS   CHAELOTTE   A.   GEAY, 

Organizing  Secretary  for  Europe  of  the  World's  Woman's  Temperance  Union. 

"  The  news  of  the  death  of  John  B.  Finch  has  come  like  a  shock  to 

all,  and  especially  to  those  of  us  who  have  so  lately  learned  to  know 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  493 

and  respect  him.  We  wonder  why  he  should  have  been  taken  away  so 
early  in  the  midst  of  such  a  useful  life.  With  himt  we  believe,  it  is 
well,  and  that  he  has  received  the '  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,' 
of  the  Master.  His  was  a  very  useful  life,  and  he  probably  did  more  for 
his  country  than  many  who  have  lived  twice  as  long." 

JOHN  T.  TANNER, 
Athens,  Alabama. 

"  I  had  read  and  heard  so  much  of  John  B.  Finch  that  I  expected 
much  of  him,  but  on  meeting  him  at  the  Pittsburg  Convention,  I  dis- 
covered that  half  had  not  been  told. 

"  Some  men  live  too  long,  some  die  too  soon,  but  the  sun  of  John  B. 
Finch  went  down  in  meridian  splendor  without  even  a  cloudlet  in  the 
sky. 

"  He  was  a  man  of  culture  and  refinement,  and,  better  than  all,  a 
Christian.  In  the  work  assigned  him  he  was  peerless,  and  his  death  is 
a  national  calamity." 

HON.  HENRY  W.   BLAIR, 

United  States  Senator  from  New  Hampshire. 

"  I  had  little  personal  knowledge  of  Mr.  Finch,  and  think  that  my  im- 
pression of  the  man  must  be  that  made  by  his  public  conduct  upon  the 
mass  of  his  countrymen. 

"  When  I  heard  of  his  death  I  felt  that  although  a  strong  pillar  had 
fallen,  yet  his  was  a  career  which  could  not  be  arrested,  and  that,  like 
Warren  on  Bunker  Hill,  he  had  become  an  immortal  inspiration  to  every 
one  who  is  consecrated  to  the  welfare  of  man  and  the  glory  of  God. " 

T.  B.  DEMAREE, 

Past  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Kentucky. 

"  For  five  years  I  was  associated  with  our  fallen  chieftain.  When 
I  first  met  him  upon  the  floor  of  the  Right  Worthy  Grand  Lodge,  I 


494  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

said,  '  That  man  is  born  a  leader.'  For  three  years  I  served  as  his  deputy 
and  was  subject  to  his  orders,  and  was  proud  of  my  leader.  Many  times 
I  sought  his  help,  and  was  never  refused.  When  the  treasury  was  empty 
he  supplied  me  from  his  own  purse.  Two  days  before  his  death  he  wrote 
me.  While  reading  his  letter  my  son  came  with  a  daily  paper  announcing 
his  death.  I  cannot  describe  the  shock.  The  Order  has  lost  a  leader 
whose  place  no  man  can  fill.  I  shall  ever  keep  in  memory  the  name  of 
my  faithful  friend,  John  B.  Finch." 

GENERAL  CLINTON  B.  FISK. 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  a  genuine  reformer,  brave  and  brotherly,  true 
and  fearless,  a  faithful  friend,  whose  mighty  voice,  great  heart,  and 
splendid  genius  were  consecrated  to  the  cause  of  the  perishing.  In  the 
history  of  these  times  will  appear  but  few  names  of  men  around  whose 
memory  so  much  affection  will  linger.  He  will  live  more  in  hearts  than 
on  marble  ;  his  fame  will  be  broad  and  lasting,  for  it  will  rest  upon  un- 
selfish heroic  devotion  to  the  best  interests  of  mankind.  His  grasp  of 
the  great  principles  on  which  true  Christian  government  rests,  the  far- 
stretching  insight  of  his  political  views,  the  loftiness  of  his  language,  his 
imperial  creative  genius — all  combined  to  enable  this  marvellous  young 
man  to  make  the  world  hearken  to  his  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  American 
home  in  its  struggle  for  supremacy  over  the  American  saloon.  The  great 
world  listens  still  to  him,  '  who  being  dead  yet  speaketh.'  " 

EEV.  W.  SEARLS, 

Chaplain  of  Auburn  Stale  Prison,  New  York. 

"  I  saw  and  read  with  tearful  eyes  that  my  dear  friend,  John  B.  Finch, 
walks  no  more  among  mortals.  And  my  soul  said  within  me,  '  How  are 
the  mighty  fallen— fallen  in  the  midst  of  battle  !  Can  it  be  ?  Shall  we 
hear  his  voice  no  more  ? '  Such  a  man,  such  a  leader  gone  in  the  midst 
of  his  years,  gone  to  his  reward  !  The  cause  he  so  fearlessly  advocated, 
and  that,  too,  with  such  matchless  power,  could  ill  afford  to  spare  him." 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  495 

HON.  SAMUEL  D.  HASTINGS, 
Past  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar,  Madison,  Wis. 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  one  of  the  most  unselfish,  self-sacrificing  men  I 
have  ever  known.  He  always  seemed  ready  to  give  his  substance,  his 
time,  his  talents,  his  zeal,  his  very  life  for  the  good  of  others.  His  re- 
ligion was  a  religion  of  deeds  rather  than  of  words  ;  it  was  of  the  great 
unobtrusive  kind  that,  '  Let  not  the  left  hand  know  what  the  right 
hand  doeth.'  " 

E.  S.  CHEVIS, 
Past  Grand  Chief  Templar  of  Kentucky,  and  Mrs.  R.  S.  Chevis. 

"  Mr.  Finch's  knowledge  of  the  temperance  reform  was  as  thorough 
as  observation,  information,  and  experience  could  well  make  it. 

"  Sacrificing  ultimate  wealth  and  distinction  in  his  profession  at  law, 
he  entered  the  temperance  work  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  with  him  it 
was  a  conscientious  undertaking  ;  consequently  he  applied  himself  at 
once  to  lay  a  foundation  so  strong  that  the  temple  when  erected  should 
never  fall.  Educated  in  the  school  of  total  abstinence,  and  espousing 
that  standard  of  temperance  from  principle  and  not  policy,  he  readily 
comprehended  the  rights  and  advantages  of  prohibition. 

"  He  had  learned  that  the  saloon  was  the  child  of  moderation — that 
the  whole  system  of  the  drink  traffic  had  its  life  and  support  in  the 
doctrine  that  it  was  the  abuse  and  not  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks 
that  produced  evil.  So  long  as  moderation  prevailed  as  the  standard 
of  temperance,  just  so  long  would  the  saloon  have  a  right  to  exist. 
From  a  scientific  standpoint,  he  believed  even  the  moderate  nse  of 
liquor  as  a  beverage  sinful,  being  contrary  to  God's  law  and  nature's 
law.  Hence,  as  an  advocate  of  total  abstinence,  he  had  not  only  a  moral 
principle  to  act  upon,  but  a  conscience  to  sustain  and  support  him.  His 
logical  conclusions  were,  that  if  total  abstinence  was  a  good  thing  for 
the  individual,  prohibition  was  a  good  thing  for  the  State  ;  that  he  could 


496  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

with  equal  propriety  support  both  ;  for  while  one  was  a  moral  and  the 
other  a  legal  force,  yet  they  were  one  and  the  same  in  principle. 

"  When  applied  to  the  individual  we  call  it  total  abstinence  ;  when 
applied  to  the  State,  prohibition.  Thus  he  taught  that  in  this  great 
reform  both  moral  and  legal  forces  were  necessary  to  ensure  success. 

"  Mr.  Finch  went  farther  in  the  establishment  of  a  successful  method 
to  build  upon  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  Although  many  of  them 
believed  in  total  abstinence,  they  could  not  or  did  not  comprehend  the 
benefits  of  prohibition  ;  and  while  others  favored  prohibition  as  a  meas- 
ure of  political  economy,  they  did  not  understand  that  the  success  of 
prohibition  depended  upon  the  practice  of  total  abstinence. 

"Mr.  Finch's  education  and  great  brain iorce  enabled  him  early  in 
life  to  grasp  the  situation  and  comprehend  the  necessities  of  the  reform, 
while  his  true  philanthropy  and  generous  heart  led  him  to  sacrifice  all 
personal  ambitions  and  devote  his  life  to  the  cause  of  suffering  humanity. 

' '  Presenting  as  he  did  a  sensible  and  practical  theory,  his  teachings 
were  readily  accepted,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  world  we  find 
him,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  a  philosopher,  statesman,  and  leader  at  the 
head  of  the  greatest  social,  moral,  and  political  reform  that  has  ever 
been  attempted  during  the  civilization  of  man. 

"  The  history  of  prohibition  cannot  be  written  without  the  history  of 
our  departed  leader.  His  exposition  of  the  fundamental  principles 
involved  in  the  reform  is  a  part  of  its  history,  and  his  thoughts  and 
acts  are  so  thoroughly  embedded  in  the  reformation  that  the  future  his- 
torian cannot  write  one  without  the  other.  Generations  yet  unborn 
will  rise  up  and  honor  his  name  as  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors  of 
the  human  race. 

"  In  concluding  this  short  review,  we  desire  to  record  our  personal 
appreciation  of  Brother  Finch's  character,  wisdom,  and  philanthropy. 
We  sincerely  believe  that  this  country  never  produced  his  equal,  and 
we  mourn  him  not  only  as  a  leader  and  public  benefactor,  but  as  a  true 
and  devoted  personal  friend,  whose  loving  spirit,  kind  words,  and  gentle 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   PINGS.  497 

deeds  will  be  to  us  a  sweet  memory  and  consolation  through  all  the 
years  to  come. 

"  God  bless  the  heroic  life  of  our  beloved  John  B.  Finch  !" 

CHICAGO  "DAILY  NEWS." 

"  John  B.  Finch  was  sincerely  admired  and  beloved.  His  talents 
were  of  an  unusually  high  order,  and  he  applied  them  with  great  enthu- 
siasm and  force  in  the  cause  of  temperance.  The  distinct  good  he  did 
that  cause  is  fully  recognized  ;  what  further  glorious  ends  he  might 
have  accomplished  in  its  behalf  had  he  been  spared  to  fulfil  his  career 
of  energetic  usefulness — these  can  only  be  guessed  at  now,  and  their 
accomplishment  seems  farther  and  farther  away.  By  his  death  the  pro- 
hibition cause  in  America  has  lost  one  of  its  ablest  leaders. 

"  But  for  other  reasons,  too,  his  loss  is  deplored,  for  John  B.  Finch 
was  a  man  of  great  heart ;  his  charity  was  tender  and  far-reaching,  and 
his  hands  were  prompt  to  do  the  manly  deeds  which  his  generous  nature 
ever  inspired.  Rarely  has  it  been  our  fortune  to  meet  with  a  man  com- 
bining to  so  marked  a  degree  the  most  admirable  qualities  of  head  and 

heart. 

"  '  And  so  they  weep, 

Knowing  they  shall  not  see  again 

This  bravest,  fairest,  best  of  men 

That  is  for  aye  asleep.'  " 

THE  NEW  YORK  "  PIONEER." 

"  In  person  Mr.  Finch  was  tall,  heavily  built,  and  shapely.  Physically 
as  intellectually,  he  was  marvellously  powerful.  Though  passionately 
fond  of  hunting  and  athletic  sport,  he  denied  himself  all  recreation  for 
the  past  ten  years,  and  labored  unceasingly  for  the  cause  of  reform.  In 
his  personal  habits  he  was  plain  and  unostentatious.  Of  the  many 
costly  presents  of  jewelry  he  had  received  he  only  wore  a  gold  watch, 
presented  by  his  temperance  friends  in  Nebraska. 


498  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  -B.  FINCH. 

"  In  religion  he  had  no  prejudices.  He  was  a  simple  Christian,  with 
a  confidence  in  his  God  that  was  strong  and  abiding.  At  the  time  of 
his  death  he  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  at  his  Evanston 
home." 

THE   "LEVEE." 

"  Mr.  Finch  was  an  indomitable  worker,  far  too  much  so  for  his  own 
good.  He  gave  himself  no  rest,  even  when  rest  was  the  absolute  de- 
mand of  his  physical  being.  He  has  been  almost  constantly  in  the  field 
for  months  past,  doing  as  much  work  on  the  platform  as  any  man  ought 
to  undertake,  and  in  addition  to  this  attending  to  his  large  correspond- 
ence, consulting  friends  about  the  work,  and  looking  after  the  thousand 
and  one  details  of  that  work,  when  he  ought  to  have  been  in  bed  recuper- 
ating his  wasted  powers." 

THE   UTICA  "DAILY  PEESS." 

"  By  the  death  of  John  B.  Finch  the  cause  of  prohibition  loses  its 
ablest  advocate.  He  was  known  as  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  forcible 
temperance  orators  in  the  country,  and  devoted  his  time  for  several 
years  to  speaking  in  the  interests  of  temperance  and  prohibition." 

THE    "  GOOD   TEMPLAE," 

Glasgow,  Scotland. 

"  Mr.  Finch  was  tender  and  sympathetic,  yet  he  was  bold  as  a  lion, 
and  it  might  be  truly  said  of  him  that  he  '  never  feared  the  face  of 
man.'  " 

THE   SALT   LAKE   "DAILY   TEIBUNE." 

"  From  Boston,  where  he  died,  to  the  eastern  base  of  the  Eocky 
Mountains,  there  is  lamentation  over  his  death  in  every  temperance 
circle",  and  from  every  point  comes  the  exclamation  : 

"  '  No  man  can  take  his  place.'  " 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  499 

THE    "RESCUE," 
/Sacramento,   Cal. 

"  His  work  was  one  of  self-sacrifice,  working  for  the  elevation  and 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  millions  who  are  in  bondage.  He  was 
essentially  a  worker,  and,  as  was  not  altogether  unexpected  to  himself  or 
his  friends,  he  died  with  the  harness  of  work  literally  upon  him.  Peace 
to  his  ashes." 

THE   "NATIONAL   TEMPERANCE  ADVOCATE." 

"At  this  important  juncture,  when  the  temperance  question  is  becom- 
ing an  absorbing  national  question  as  never  before,  so  gifted  and  able  a 
leader  can  ill  be  spared.  The  work  to  which  his  life  was  dedicated  and 
for  which  it  was  sacrificed,  it  must,  especially  in  its  educational  aspect, 
be  the  duty  of  many  henceforth  to  share  and  promote,  until  with  God's 
blessing  the  end  he  sought  is  achieved — the  prevalence  of  total  absti- 
nence from  all  intoxicating  beverages  and  the  entire  legal  prohibition  of 
the  drink  traffic." 

"THE  STATE  SENTINEL," 
Decatur,  IU. 

"  While  his  eloquent  and  convincing  voice  is  hushed  and  keen  in- 
cisive pen  is  still,  John  B.  Finch  is  not  dead  nor  his  work  ended.  Nearly 
a  million  Good  Templars,  with  ritual  in  nineteen  different  languages, 
are  pledged  to  carry  forward  the  principles  for  which  he  so  bravely, 
unselfishly,  and  successfully  battled.  Three  hundred  thousand  organ- 
ized prohibition  voters,  of  whose  executive  committee  he  was  the  head, 
most  of  whom  at  some  time  have  felt  the  inspiring  influence  of  his 
matchless  logic,  will  never  sheathe  the  sword  of  truth  until  the  idea  to 
which  his  life  was  consecrated  is  crowned  into  law  by  the  verdict  of  the 
great  American  jury." 


500  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"THE  EVANSTON  CITIZEN," 

October  6,  1887. 

"  In  the  death  of  Mr.  Finch  the  Prohibition  Party  has  lost  an  able, 
honest,  fearless  leader  and  counsellor  ;  the  temperance  platform  has 
lost  its  most  brilliant,  eloquent,  and  sincere  orator,  and  this  country 
never  lost  a  truer  citizen — one  who  always  put  principle  before  policy. 

"  While  men  differed  with  Mr.  Finch  in  his  views,  they  nevertheless 
gave  him  credit  for  his  honesty  and  admired  him  for  his  fearlessness. 
Without  doubt  the  loss  thus  sustained  by  the  temperance  cause  will,  in 
a  great  measure,  cement  the  workers  in  a  closer  union  for  the  abolition 
of  the  drink  curse. " 

THE  "  YOUTH'S  TEMPERANCE   BANNEE." 

"  He  loved  children,  and  could  entertain  and  instruct  them  as  few  are 
able  to  do.  We  told  you  one  time  of  his  talk  to  the  children  at  a  big 
meeting  at  Saratoga  last  May.  We  shall  never  forget  it,  nor  his  descrip- 
tion of  cider-making,  his  disgust  of  the  tobacco  habit,  so  plainly  shown 
by  his  expressive  features,  and  his  few  but  well-chosen  words.  We 
wondered  at  the  time  if  any  one  who  heard  him  would  ever  wish  to  drink 
cider. 

"  Boys  can  imitate  his  example  in  this  way.  They  can  and  should 
keep  their  mouths  pure  and  clean.  They  can  do  so  by  keeping  strong 
drink  and  tobacco  out  and  using  no  profane  or  impure  words.  They 
can  store  their  minds  with  useful  knowledge.  This  is  not  to  be  found 
in  trashy  novels.  Mr.  Finch  read  everything  which  would  help  him. 
He  would  take  up  a  book  of  facts  and  arguments  and  read  it  as  eagerly 
as  a  hungry  boy  would  eat  his  dinner.  He  read  useful  books,  and  re- 
membered what  he  read." 

The  following  letter  was  received  from  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Lincoln,  Neb.  : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  501 

"  To  Mrs.  F.  E.  Finch  : 

"  Again  and  again  the  church  bell  tolls,  and  the  emblems  of  mourn- 
ing flutter  in  the  breeze  ;  we  heed  them  not,  for  he  was  a  stranger  who 
died  ;  but  not  so  to-day.  A  brother  has  gone,  and  though  far  away  from 
home  when  he  stepped  into  the  unseen,  with  you  we  heard — we  mourn  ; 
but  while  we  mourn  we  rejoice  that  his  works  are  with  us  continually  to 
increase  in  their  influence. 

"  The  union  for  which  he  first  labored  unite  in  sending  sympathy. 

"  May  God  and  the  right  be  your  comfort  and  solace." 

The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  Right 
Worthy  Grand  Lodge  Executive  Committee  at  its  first 
meeting  after  the  loss  of  Mr.  Finch  from  its  councils  : 

"  WHEBEAS,  In  the  Providence  of  Almighty  God,  our  honored  brother, 
John  B.  Finch,  Eight  Worthy  Grand  Templar,  has  been  early  and  sud- 
denly removed  from  arduous  and  self-denying  labor  to  everlasting  rest 
and  reward. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  place  on  record  our  high  estimate  of  the  pure  and 
noble  character,  the  exalted  intellectual  gifts,  and  the  self-sacrificing 
devotion  of  our  beloved  leader.  His  keen,  cogent  logic  and  impassioned 
eloquence,  informed  as  they  were  by  an  almost  inexhaustible  knowledge 
of  the  facts  and  philosophy  of  temperance,  and  enforced  by  a  burning 
hatred  of  iniquity,  an  absolute  loyalty  to  truth  and  righteousness,  and  a 
tender  and  Christ-like  love  for  his  fellow-men,  made  him  a  model  re- 
former. 

"Wise  in  council  ;  firm,  kind,  and  judicious  in  administration  ;  fear- 
less in  conflict  ;  faithful  in  friendship  ;  he  was  singularly  qualified  for 
the  pre-eminent  position  of  leadership  to  which  he  was  called. 

"To  all  gifts  and  acquirements  he  added  a  sweetness  and  affability  of 
disposition  and  a  generosity  of  soul,  which  won  for  him  not  only  the 
respect  and  admiration,  but  also  the  love  of  those  who  knew  him. 


502  THE  LIFE  OF  JOI11T  B.   FINCH. 

"  Resolved,  That,  while  realizing  the  greatness  of  our  loss,  we  desire 
to  bow  in  reverent  submission  to  the  will  of  God.  '  Clouds  and  dark- 
ness are  round  about  Him  ;  righteousness  and  judgment  are  the  foun- 
dation of  His  throne.'  What  we  know  not  now  we  shall  know  hereafter  ; 
but  this  we  know,  '  He  doeth  all  things  well. '  For  the  life— for  us,  alas  ! 
too  early  closed— a  beautiful  example  to  young  men  and  a  benediction 
to  the  world,  we  give  thanks  to  our  Heavenly  Father. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  respectfully  proffer  to  Sister  Finch  our  deep  and 
true  sympathy,  and  assure  her  of  our  fraternal  regard,  supplicating  for 
her  and  her  boy  the  richest  consolations  of  Divine  grace. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  will  strive  to  honor  the  memory  of  our  revered 
and  beloved  chief  by  consecrating  ourselves  afresh,  with  unreserved  de- 
votion, to  the  work  to  which  he  gave  his  life  ;  especially  by  earnestly 
laboring  to  make  our  beloved  Order  what  John  B.  Finch  desired  it  might 
become — the  great  missionary  temperance  organization  of  the  world." 

The  following  resolutions  and  letter  were  received  from 
California  : 

"  Mrs.  John  B.  Finch,  Evanslon,  III. 

' '  I  >I;A K  SISTER  :  The  sad  news  of  the  sudden  decease  of  your  beloved 
husband  was  announced  at  the  opening  meeting  of  the  annual  session 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  Independent  Order  Good  Templars  of  California, 
which  was  held  at  Pacific  Grove  Ketreat,  commencing  October  4th,  1887. 
In  the  evening  of  the  day  named  memorial  services  were  held,  at  which 
addresses  were  delivered  by  O.  C.  Wheeler,  P.G.C.T.  ;  C.  S.  Haswell, 
P.G.C.T.  ;  George  B.  Katzenstein,  P.R.W.G.T.  ;  Eobert  Thompson, 
P.G.C.T.  ;  Mrs.  Lydia  F.  Luse  ;  Eev.  W.  J.  B.  Stacey,  and  J.  M.  Wall- 
ing, G.C.T.,  after  which  the  following  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  is 
hereby  officially  transmitted  : 

"WHEBEAS,  This  Grand  Lodge  has,  within  the  last  few  hours,  re- 
ceived by  telegraph  the  sad  announcement  that  '  John  B.  Finch  fell 
dead  last  night  at  East  Boston,  Mass. ; ' 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  D.  FINCH.  503 

"AND  WHEREAS,  The  stroke  that  removed  John  B.  Finch  from  '  earth- 
life  '  took  from  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame  in  our  Order,  our  chief  ex- 
ecutive head— a  champion  of  our  cause,  honored  and  loved  throughout 
the  Good  Templar  world  ; 

"  AND  WHEBEAS,  His  recent  labors  in  this  jurisdiction— labors  that 
stamped  him  as  a  master  workman,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term — 
labors  that  left  an  impress  upon  the  public  mind,  deep  and  lasting — 
labors,  the  consequences  of  which  will  run  parallel  with  duration — af- 
forded ua  an  opportunity  to  know  his  worth  as  we  could  not  have  known 
it  under  any  other  circumstances  ; 

"  AND  WHEBEAS,  It  is  becoming  in  an  organization  whose  work  is  the 
warp  and  woof  of  human  weal  throughout  the  whole  world  to  make  per- 
manent record  of  the  labors  and  achievements  of  its  most  successful  and 
its  greatest  advocates  ; 

"  AND  WHEBEAS,  Our  late  leader  had,  in  early  life,  become  eminently 
learned  and  wise  in  the  science  of  moral,  social,  and  political  law  ;  which 
learning  and  wisdom  he  brought  to  the  advocacy  of  total  abstinence 
from  the  social  use  of  all  intoxicants,  and  the  constitutional  prohibition 
of  their  manufacture  and  sale,  fired  with  a  fervor  of  zeal  that  yielded  to 
no  weariness,  a  consecration  without  reserve,  and  an  energy  that  ab- 
sorbed his  whole  being  ; 

"  AND  WHEBEAS,  The  elegance  of  his  rhetoric,  the  purity  of  his  logic, 
the  clearness  and  force  of  his  illustrations,  combined  to  make  his  argu- 
ments absolutely  irresistible  ;  forcing  from  the  most  astute  unbelievers 
in  his  doctrines  the  acknowledgment  that  he  had  proved  his  propositions  ; 

"  AND  WHEBEAS,  He  had,  by  indefatigable  application  of  an  intellect 
rare  in  the  harmony  of  its  construction  and  forceful  in  its  development 
of  great  principles,  and  by  the  assiduous  culture  of  a  heart,  warm  as  a 
woman's  and  glowing  as  an  angel's,  attained  a  power  over  the  human 
mind  that  swayed  at  will  audiences  rich  in  intellect  and  vast  in  numbers, 
as  few  men  of  any  age  ever  did  or  ever  could  ; 

"AND  WHEBEAS,  His  vast  attainments  bad  pointed  him  out  as  a  fit 


504  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

head  and  leader  and  representative  of  the  grandest  moral  and  social 
organization  on  earth,  and  a  man  to  conduct  the  serried  hosts  of  more 
than  six  hundred  thousand  total  abstainers  from  intoxicants,  in  their 
march  through  a  battle  greater  and  to  a  victory  more  glorious  than  the 
world  has  seen  beside— even  the  banishment  of  the  intoxicating  cup 
from  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,  and  the  restoration  of  temperance» 
truth,  and  brotherly  love  among  all  mankind  ;  therefore,  be  it 

"  Resolved,  1st,  That  we,  as  Good  Templars,  individually  call  upon 
our  souls,  and  all  within  us,  to  bow,  with  unfeigned  humiliation  and 
submission,  to  the  terrible  dispensation  that  has  bereaved  us  beyond 
the  power  of  language  to  express. 

"  Resolved,  2d,  That  this  bereavement  calls  upon  and  demands  of 
every  Good  Templar  throughout  the  world  to  renew  consecration  and 
to  redouble  energy  in  the  great  work  we  have  undertaken — the  rescue  of 
the  fallen  and  the  preservation  of  the  upright. 

"  Resolved,  3d,  That  as  the  breach  in  the  ranks  of  hottest  battle  is 
closed  by  the  voluntary  acts  of  the  brave,  in  at  once  taking  the  place  of 
the  fallen,  so  every  one  of  our  hosts  should  forthwith  strive  to  aid  in 
supplying  the  place  of  him  whose  irreparable  loss  we  have  just  sustained. 

"  Resolved,  4th,  That  this  sudden  calamity,  falling  upon  us  like  a  shaft 
of  ethereal  fire  from  a  cloudless  noon-day,  is  a  most  solemn  admonition 
to  each  of  us  to  be  so  faithful  in  duty  and  so  prompt  in  action  that 
whenever  we  are  called  hence,  whether  at  midnight  or  at  noon,  the  hour 
that  shall  close  our  work  shall  witness,  in  our  case,  as  it  did  in  his,  the 
perfection  of  all^our  hands  have  found  to  do. 

"  Resolved,  5th,  That  at  this  critical  moment  the  rousing  battle-cry  of 
a  gifted  sister  who,  when  about  to'  pass  the  '  gate  ajar, '  dipped  her  pen 
in  living  light  '  and  spread  it  broadcast  o'er  the  world,'  should  be 
adopted  by  each  as  addressed  to  us  : 

"  '  On,  brothers,  on  ;  though  the  night  be  gone, 

And  the  morning  glory  breaking  ; 
Though  your  toils  be  blest,  ye  may  not  rest, 
For  danger's  ever  waking. 


.  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  505 

411  Ye  have  spread  your  Bail,  ye  have  braved  the  gale, 

And  a  calm  o'er  the  sea  is  creeping' ; 
But  I  know  by  the  sky  that  danger's  nigh, 
There's  yet  no  time  for  sleeping. 

" '  Still  dingy  walls  nurse  midnight  brawls ; 

Up  from  the  vale  is  wreathing 
A  fatal  cloud,  the  soul  to  shroud, 
While  man  its  poison's  breathing. 

" '  Still  vice  is  seen  in  glittering  sheen, 

In  the  ruby  bubble  laughing  ; 
But  death  his  shrine  has  reared  in  wine, 
And  the  young  blood  he  is  quaffing. 

" '  When  the  beaker's  brim  with  rust  is  dim, 

Because  no  lip  will  press  it ; 
When  the  worm  is  dead,  which  ever  fed 
On  the  heart  that  dared  caress  it ; 

'"When  the  gay,  false  light  of  eyes  so  bright 

Be  too  true  for  thought  to  smother  ; 
When  the  art  be  lost  and  the  demon  tossed, 
And  man  tempt  not  his  brother, 

"'Then,  peaceful  and  blest,  from  toil  ye  may  rest, 

Else  rest  is. but  in  heaven  ; 
For  shame  still  lies  in  sad,  wet  eyes, 
Still  hearts  with  woe  are  riven. 

" '  Then  on,  brothers,  on ;  though  the  night  be  gone 

And  the  morning  glory  breaking  ; 
Though  your  toils  be  blest,  ye  may  not  rest, 
For  danger,  danger's  waking.1 

"  Resolved,   6th,  That  this  Grand  Lodge  hereby  tenders  to  the  be- 
reaved widow  and  family  of  the  deceased  the  most  profound  condolence 


506  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

and  the  warmest  sympathies  of  our  hearts,  in  this,  their  hour  of  unutter- 
able sorrow  and  woe. 

"  Resolved,  7th,  That,  in  the  printed  proceedings  of  this  annual  ses- 
sion, a  memorial  page,  with  suitable  emblems,  be  devoted  to  the  memory 
of  our  departed  chief. 

"  Resolved,  8th,  That  this  report  and  accompanying  proceedings  be 
spread  upon  our  minutes,  and  an  engrossed  copy  thereof  be  forwarded 

to  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

"  O.  G.  WHEELEB,          "| 

"  E.  THOMPSON, 

n  n    c,    TT  }~  Committee." 

"  C.  S.  HASWELL, 


,  J 


M.  C.  WINCHESTER 


Memorial  resolutions  and  letters  of  sympathy  were  re- 
ceived from  all  parts  of  the  world,  very  few  of  which  can 
be  given. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts  sent  the  follow- 
ing: 

"  WHEBEAS,  In  the  Providence  of  Almighty  God,  our  brother,  the  be- 
loved and  honored  head  of  our  Order,  the  Hon.  John  B.  Finch,  has  been 
suddenly  removed  from  hia  labors  to  his  everlasting  rest  and  glorious 
reward, 

"  Resolved,  1st,  That  while  perplexed  and  distressed  under  the  stroke 
of  this  calamity,  by  which  a  young  and  beautiful  life  has  been  so  prema- 
turely closed,  we  bow  in  humble  submission  to  the  will  of  our  Heavenly 
Father,  recognizing  that  His  appointments  are  perfect  in  love  and  wis- 
dom, as  they  are  supreme  in  authority  and  power. 

"  Resolved,  2d,  That,  with  gratitude  to  God,  we  place  on  record  our 
high  estimate  of  the  character  of  our  departed  chief  as  a  Christian,  a 
Good  Templar,  a  fearless,  enthusiastic,  and  untiring  reformer,  a  wise, 
kind,  and  capable  leader. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCB.  507 

"  Endowed  with  extraordinary  powers,  invincible  in  argument,  capti- 
vating in  oratory,  he  charmed  alike  by  his  lucid  and  incisive  logic  and 
his  commanding  eloquence. 

"  A  heroic  champion  of  truth  and  righteousness,  a  determined  assail- 
ant of  falsehood  and  wrong,  he  gave  the  greatest  social  evil  which  afflicts 
our  race  no  quarter  ;  yet  he  never  battled  maliciously.  His  soul  was  set 
upon  the  deliverance  of  his  country  and  of  the  world  from  the  bitter 
and  blighting  curse  of  intemperance.  He  laid  his  axe  at  the  root  of  the 
tree,  and  the  upas  growth  trembled  before  his  keen,  resistless  strokes. 
He  aimed  his  sword  at  the  very  heart  of  the  enemy,  and  fought  for  noth- 
ing less  than  the  complete  and  eternal  overthrow  of  the  liquor  traffic — 
that  compact  with  hell,  that '  covenant  with  sin  and  death.' 

"  In  the  camp  of  the  foe,  as  well  as  araong  the  hosts  of  the  temper- 
ance crusade,  it  is  felt  and  confessed  that '  a  prince  and  a  great  man  has 
fallen.' 

"  Resolved,  3d,  That  we  recognize  in  our  beloved  brother  not  only  the 
gifted  orator  and  the  cogent  and  conclusive  reasoner,  but  also  the  man 
of  statesman-like  qualities,  as  wise  in  council  as  he  was  powerful  in 
advocacy. 

' '  His  organizing  and  administrative  abilities  were  remarkable.  His 
hands  touched  the  springs  of  every  department  of  temperance  work. 
His  active  mind  was  ever  devising  new  plans  and  methods  of  usefulness. 
His  large  heart  throbbed  with  benevolent  impulses  and  generous  purpose. 

"  In  private  life  he  was  pure,  noble,  lovable — a  devoted  husband,  an 
indulgent  father  ;  while  in  public  life  he  was  a  kingly  man— a  sovereign 
spirit,  by  virtue  of  the  affluence  and  variety  of  his  gifts  and  attainments, 
the  intensity  of  his  zeal,  the  unreservedness  of  his  devotion,  the  con- 
stancy of  his  labors,  the  honesty  of  his  purpose,  the  sweetness  and 
courtesy  of  his  demeanor. 

"  Resolved,  4th,  That,  while  sensible  of  the  irreparable  loss  which  our 
beloved  Order  and  the  cause  of  temperance  and  humanity  in  general 
have  sustained  by  the  death  of  Brother  Finch,  we  recognize  the  heavier 


508  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

loss  and  deeper  sorrow  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless,  and  respectfully 
tender  to  Sister  Finch  our  true  fraternal  sympathy,  and  pledge  her  our 
earnest  prayers. 

"  CHARLES  L.  ABBOTT,  G.C.T. 

'"  SABAH  A.  LEONARD,  G.S. 

"  WILLIAM  LEONARD,  P. G.C.T.   }•  Committee." 

"JESSIE  FORSTTH,  G.W.S. 

"  JAMES  YEAMES,  G.W.C. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  •  Yorkshire,  England,  sent  the  fol- 
lowing to  Mrs.  Finch  : 

' '  DEAR  SISTER  :  The  Executive  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Yorkshire  was 
convened  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  after  the  official  announcement 
of  the  death  of  our  late  unrivalled  chief,  your  beloved  husband,  and 
passed  the  following  resolution  of  sympathy  : 

"  We,  the  Executive  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Yorkshire,  desire  to  express 
our  warmest  sympathy  with  Sister  Finch  in  her  bereavement,  and  ar- 
dently hope  the  Disposer  of  events  will  sustain  and  be  her  comforter 
in  this  great  affliction.  We  feel  her  loss  is  an  irreparable  one,  and 
that  words  are  of  little  or  no  avail  in  arresting  the  full  tide  of  sorrow  ; 
yet  we  were  unworthy  our  faith  did  we  not  assure  our  sister  that  her 
sorrow  is  also  our  grief,  and  is  universally  shared.  In  the  loss  of  our  il- 
lustrious chief  the  world  has  lost  a  worthy  citizen  and  humanity  a  sincere 
friend,  whose  life-work  will  be  remembered  for  aye,  and  whose  memory 
will  be  enshrined  in  Templar  history  for  all  time. 

"  Yours,  in  profound  sorrow  and  sympathy, 

"CHARLES  DOVER,  G.S." 

Chester  County  District  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania  issued 
beautiful  mourning  cards  with  the  following  inscrip- 
tion : 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  509 

"  In  loving  memory  of  our 
EIGHT  WORTHY  GRAND  TEMPLAB. 

JOHN  B.  FINCH, 
Founder  of  the  District  System. 

' '  He  liveth  long  who  liveth  well, 
All  else  i8  being  flung  away ; 
He  liveth  longest  who  can  tell 
Of  true  things  truly  done  each  day.' 

On  the  memorial  page  of  the  Journal  of  Kansas  Grand 
Lodge,  1887,  the  following  appeared  : 

"  Dead  !  while  his  voice  was  living  yet, 
In  echoes  round  the  pillared  dome  ! 
Dead  !  while  his  blotted  page  lay  wet 
With  themes  of  State  and  loves  of  home. 

' '  Dead  !  in  that  crowning  grace  of  time, 

That  triumph  of  life's  zenith  hour  ! 
Dead  !  while  we  watched  his  manhood's  prime 
Break  from  the  slow  bud  into  flower  ! 

"  Dead  !  he  so  great,  and  strong,  and  wise, 

While  the  mean  thousands  yet  drew  breath  ; 
How  deepened,  through  that  dread  surprise, 
The  mystery  and  awe  of  death  ! 

"  We  sweep  the  land  from  hill  to  strand  ; 

We  seek  the  strong,  the  good,  the  brave, 
And,  sad  of  heart,  return  to  stand 
In  silence  by  a  new-made  grave. " 


510  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 


MEMORIAL  POEMS  IN   MEMORY  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

BY  CHARLES  WESLEY  KYLE. 

Lo  !  he  is  dead, 
This  brilliant  leader  of  our  cause, 

This  brave  defender  of  the  right  ; 
This  advocate  of  purer  laws, 
Who  charmed  and  filled  us  with  delight — 
Can  he  be  dead  ? 

Ah  !  who  could  know 
That  he  we  loved  and  cherished  so 

Would,  in  the  brightest  hour  of  life, 
With  intellect  and  soul  aglow, 
Amid  the  conflict  and  the  strife, 
Be  stricken  low  ? 

We  stand  aghast ! 
To  think  his  life  is  o'er  and  past 

While  yet  his  sun  was  at  its  noon  ; 
Its  brightest  rays  should  be  its  last ; 
And  midnight's  chill  and  silent  gloom 
O'er  him  be  cast. 

Illustrious  dead  ! 
Sleep  well  ;  of  thee  'twill  e'er  be  said  : 

He  did  what  mortal  man  could  do 
Mankind  with  truth  to  firmly  wed  ; 
Their  souls  with  honor  to  imbue 
In  error's  stead. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  JB.  FINVH.  511 


BY    KEY.    E.    M.    OFFORD. 

Hark  !  I  hear  quaint  voices  singing, 
Out  upon  the  night  air  ringing  ; 
Grief,  and  Hope,  and  Faith,  and  Fear, 
These  the  voices  that  I  hear. 

'Tis  a  medley  that  they  sing  ; 

Patient  but  a  while  remain  ; 

I  will  seek  to  catch  each  strain, 
Unto  you  the  measures  bring. 

GKIEF  SINGS  : 

A  hero  hath  fallen  ! 

Well,  well  may  we  weep 
For  thA  cause  that  hath  lost  him, 
Full  dearly  it  cost  him. 

Say,  why  should  he  sleep  ? 

FEAB  SINGS  : 

A  hero  hath  fallen  ! 

His  work  is  all  done. 
We  mourn  his  life's  ending  ; 
Will  his  mantle  descending 

Find  e'er  such  a  one  ? 

HOPE  SINGS  : 

A  hero  hath  fallen  ! 

Bich  sacrifice  made. 
'Twas  a  life  worth  the  living, 
And  a  life  worth  the  giving, 

On  the  altar  he  laid. 


512  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

A  hero  hath  fallen  ! 

But  dying  he  speaks  ; 
His  life  tells  the  story  ; 
'Tis  good  and  not  glory 

The  Patriot  seeks. 

FAITH  SINGS  : 

Death  reapeth  the  Beapers, 

And  layeth  them  low. 
Say,  rather,  these  sleepers 

Are  seed  that  we  sow. 
The  grave  cannot  hold  them, 

They  soon  shall  arise  ; 
Yon  mansions  enfold  them, 

Where  man  never  dies. 

A  hero  hath  fallen  ! 

The  cause  is  not  lost. 
His  life  shall  inspire  us, 
His  courage  shall  fire  us. 

Press  on  at  all  cost. 

FAITH  AND  HOPE  TOGETHEB  SING  : 

'Tis  with  toils  and  not  with  tears 
We  must  labor  through  the  years. 
Fight  till  every  foe  is  down  ; 
None  but  victors  wear  the  crown. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   F1NC3.  513 


BY   HABVEY   J.    WAKNEB. 

(Read  at  a  memorial  service  held  in  the  Washington  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Brooklyn,  October  llth,  1887,  by  the  Young  Men's  Prohibition  Club  of  Kings  County.) 

We  bow  in  sorrow  o'er  our  dead 

Chief  Templar  of  the  land  ; 
And  dauntless  partisan,  who  led 

The  Prohibition  Band. 

He  fell,  a  soldier  on  the  field 

While  at  his  post.     His  heart, 
Pent  with  commissioned  truth  to  wield. 

Received  the  fatal  dart 

That  broke  the  shaft,  and  life  so  pure 

And  luminous  was  riven  ; 
And  angel  bands  in  triumph  bore 

His  spotless  soul  to  heaven. 

Fell,  ere  defacing  time  had  marr'd 

The  vigor  of  his  youth  ; 
Fell  in  the  conflict,  pressing  hard 

The  enemies  of  Truth. 

Torn  from  devoted  hearts,  who  knew 

The  riches  of  his  love  ; 
Snatched  from  his  work  impelled  to  do 

To  Saints'  reward — above. 

From  place  to  place,  urging  his  speed, 

He  travelled  o'er  the  fields, 
And  scattered  everywhere  the  seed 

That  prohibition  yields. 


514  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

He  stood  a  foe  with  all  his  zeal 

To  parties  of  all  kind 
Upholding  rum  ;  and  made  them  feel 

The  rigor  of  his  mind. 

With  rum  he  would  not  stoop  to  take 

The  honors  of  a  State  ; 
He  would  not  for  his  conscience'  sake 

Thus  compromise  his  hate. 

The  every  impulse  he  obeyed 
Seemed  born  of  virtue's  might  ; 

For  prohibition  worked  and  prayed — 
A  votary  of  Right ! 

He  toiled  in  every  home  to  blend 
Virtues  that  triumphs  win  ; 

From  platforms  swords  of  truth  would  send 
To  free  the  world  from  sin. 

The  languor  of  that  placid  face 
And  shrouded  eye  and  sight 

Pleads  with  the  universal  race 
To  triumph  in  the  fight. 

As  in  the  conflict  we  pursue, 

Faithful  to  public  weal, 
May  embers  of  his  fires  renew 

His  followers  with  zeal. 

Our  brother's  purposes  shall  stand 

A  monument  of  Bight ! 
Rum  shall  not  rule  our  native  land, 

Our  sacredness  to  blight  ! 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  515 

Few  of  our  land  with  him  could  cope 

On  platform— in  debate  ; 
His  lucid  speech  and  boundless  scope, 

Like  thunderbolts  went  straight. 

Great  largess  to  our  cause  he  brought ; 

"With  singleness  of  soul, 
Through  darkness  and  defeat  still  fought 

For  prohibition' s  goal. 

A  blessed  boon,  a  life  so  true — 

Impelled  to  temp 'ranee  zeal — 
His  speech  would  everywhere  renew 

Hope  for  the  Nation's  weal. 

His  fruitful  years  stand  forth  replete, 

A  beacon  clear  and  bright ; 
A  corn-shock  for  the  Master  mete, 

And  garnered  with  delight. 


BY   SAMUEL   GBEENWOOD. 

There  is  no  flower  alive  with  nature's  gladness 
But  some  hot  blast  is  waiting  to  lay  low  ; 

There  is  no  joy  so  full  but  some  great  sadness 
Is  waiting  to  o'ershadow  us  with  woe. 

There  is  no  love  or  hope  to  mortals  given 
But  turns  at  last  the  currents  of  our  bliss  ; 

There  is  no  friend  so  strong  this  side  of  Heaven, 
But  Death  is  waiting  with  his  quiet  kiss  — 


516  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

The  kiss  of  death  from  angels'  lips  imparted  ! 

The  kiss  of  life  from  the  eternal  God  ! 
Oh,  we  have  lost  the  bravest,  noblest-hearted, 

That  in  these  vice-thronged,  snare-laid  ways  have  trod  ! 

From  East  to  West,  from  Scotia's  sea- washed  beaches 
To  where  the  sunset  gilds  the  Western  shore, 

The  universal  voice  of  mourning  reaches, 
And  hearts  and  homes  are  sorrow-swept  and  sore. 

Our  chief  has  fallen,  in  his  full  fruition 
Of  hope  and  honor  and  unsullied  name  ; 

The  ceaseless  fire  of  his  great  ambition 
At  freedom's  altar  burned  with  holy  flame. 

His  was  a  zeal  no  obstacles  abated, 

His  was  a  purpose  deep  as  love  and  life  ; 

With  every  will  and  feeling  consecrated, 
No  power  turned  him  in  his  holy  strife. 

With  heart  and  mind  of  strong  and  tender  beauty, 
With  soul  and  arm  firm  in  his  faith  above, 

He  knew  no  lower  call  than  God  and  duty, 
He  gave  no  blow  that  was  not  born  of  love. 

O  mothers  of  this  vice-ruled  generation, 

O  mothers  of  the  nations  yet  to  be, 
He  lived  to  save  your  homes  from  desolation, 

He  died  to  make  your  sons  and  husbands  free  ! 

O  grieving  friends,  his  place  is  void  forever, 
No  monumental  stone  can  tell  our  loss  ; 

Go  follow  up  his  work  with  brave  endeavor, 
And  let  us  share  the  burdens  and  the  cross. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  517 

Gird  on  the  sword,  let  all  brave  men  succeed  him  ; 

Lift  high  his  standard,  tread  the  path  he  trod  ; 
Let  nations  hear  his  battle  cry  of  freedom, 

And  we  may  win  this  shackled  world  for  God. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

GEMS    FROM    LETTERS    AND    SPEECHES. 

"  f  I  ^0  accomplish  our  aim — the  overthrow  of  the  liquor  traffic — we 
I      must  get  down  on  our  knees  and  ask  God's  help,  and  not  that 
only,  but  we  must  be  willing  to  do  all  in  our  power  individually  in  the 
way  of  active  aggressive  work." 

"  I  know  the  disheartening  obstacles  in  the  way,  and  the  enormity  of 
the  task  before  us  to  accomplish  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic. 
But  we  must  not  stop  or  falter  because  of  this.  We  must  talk,  believe, 
feel,  pray,  and  work. " 

"  This  struggle  long  ago  ceased  to  be  a  moral  pastime,  which  men  can 
pick  up  and  lay  down  at  their  will.  That  it  is  a  bitter  fight,  a  war  that 
must  eventuate  either  in  the  destruction  of  the  liquor  power  or  in  the 
annihilation  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  and  everything  that  is  dear  to  a 
Christian  nation,  is  evident  to  all." 

"  Every  person  must  either  be  in  favor  of  the  sale  of  liquor  or  against 
it.  There  is  no  neutral  ground." 

"  That  man  who  votes  for  the  license  of  the  sale  of  liquor  is  equally 
as  responsible  for  the  misery  and  crime  it  causes  as  the  man  who 
sells  it." 

"  I  would  advise  mothers  to  throw  open  their  parlors  and  sitting- 
rooms  to  their  boys  ;  to  put  away  their  ornaments  which  boyish 
hands  must  never  touch,  let  God's  sunlight  in  even  if  it  does  fade  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  519 

carpet,  and  make  their  houses  a  '  home  '  for  their  loved  ones,  instead  of 
a  place  to  stay  in  after  all  other  '  places  '  are  closed." 

"  An  old  bachelor  is  only  half  a  man." 

"  Old  men  have  fought  more  than  half  the  battle  for  prohibition.  Now 
we  call  upon  the  young  men  to  come  to  the  rescue  and  win  tha  fight." 

"  Every  man  is  our  brother." 

"  When  I  see  men  '  on  the  fence  '  in  regard  to  the  prohibition  ques- 
tion, I  sometimes  wish  the  fence  was  sharp  enough  to  cut  them  in  two, 
that  we  might  have  our  half." 

"  The  opportunity  to  drink  creates  the  appetite." 

"  Moral  suasion  is  secondary  to  legal  suasion,  and  political  suasion  is 
master  of  both." 

"  If  any  man  wishes  to  know  what  makes  his  taxes  so  high,  and  where 
the  money  is  used,  let  him  read  the  report  of  the  supervisors,  county 
commissioners,  etc.  He  will  find  that  the  expenditures  for  the  support 
of  paupers,  made  such  by  drunkenness  and  other  damages,  the  direct  or 
indirect  cause  of  which  results  from  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  is 
the  principal  cause  of  high  taxes." 

"  The  men  who  sell  intoxicating  drinks  should  be  compelled  to  '  foot 
the  bills  '  for  all  consequential  damages  resulting  from  their  trade." 

"  No  Good  Templar  has  a  right  to  vote  in  any  manner  whatever  for 
the  support  of  the  liquor  license." 

"  Alcohol  is  not  found  in  nature  ;  it  is  the  product  of  rottenness,  com- 
ing in  only  at  nature's  death  ;  consequently  there  can  be  no  natural 
appetite  for  it." 

' '  To  claim  that  stimulants  are  necessary  to  man' s  existence  is  to  claim 
that  <*<jd  did  not  know  the  needs  of  the  creatures  He  created." 


520  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  The  so-called  '  moderate  drinker '  is  a  more  dangerous  man  in  a 
community  than  the  common  drunkard,  because  of  the  evil  influence  he 
exerts." 

"  I  would  not  trust  my  life  in  the  hands  of  a  tippling  physician." 

"  Legal  suasion  and  moral  suasion  should  be  worked  together  ;  it  is 
folly  to  oppose  either.  One  is  the  bones  and  the  other  is  the  flesh  of 
the  temperance  body." 

"  It  is  a  violation  of  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  grant  license  to  men  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors." 

4 '  I  used  to  think  a  '  strong-minded  '  woman  was  a  humbug,  but  I  now 
think  that  a  weak-minded  woman  is  a  fizzle." 

"  It  would  be  more  profitable  to  have  grass  grow  in  the  streets  of  a 
city  than  to  have  drunkards  grow  in  them." 

"  Alcoholic  drink  taken  by  a  healthy  person  is  never  beneficial,  but 
always  injurious.  It  is  not  assimilated  by  the  system,  but  prevents  the 
stomach  from  digesting  its  wholesome  food.  It  attacks  and  partially  or 
totally  destroys  the  brain  and  the  whole  nervous  system  and  muscular 
tissue." 

"  The  '  appetite  '  for  intoxicating  liquor  is  a  misnomer.  It  is  a  dis- 
ease, and  the  victim  of  it  should  be  pitied  and  helped,  not  despised  and 
punished.  He  should  be  treated  in  hospitals  for  the  disease,  not  sent 
to  prisons  for  punishment.  The  man  who  sells  the  poisonous  stuff 
should  answer  for  the  vice  and  crime  it  produces,  not  the  victim  who  is 
poisoned  by  it.  If  a  man  goes  to  a  drug-store  and  buys  a  bottle  of 
medicine,  and  goes  home  and  takes  it  and  becomes  poisoned  and  is 
made  sick  by  it,  the  druggist  or  prescription  clerk  is  fined  or  imprisoned, 
not  the  victim.  The  laws  for  punishing  the  drunkard  and  letting  the 
drunkard-maker  go  free  are  absurd  and  unjust." 


TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  521 

"  The  argument  that  public  sentiment  should  be  educated  to  a  com- 
plete acceptance  of  prohibition  before  prohibitory  laws  are  enacted  is 
the  purest  nonsense.  Everybody  will  readily  admit  the  absurdity  of 
the  idea  that  people  should  be  educated  to  be  perfectly  honest  before 
laws  should  be  passed  against  stealing.  Laws  must  come  first,  and 
learning  to  live  up  to  them  will  always  follow.' ' 

"  The  most  common  and  most  powerful  cause  of  prostitution  among 
our  girls  and  women  is  wine  and  beer  drinking. " 

"  It  makes  no  difference  whether  alcohol  be  in  the  shape  of  brandy  or 
beer,  the  effect  is  the  same  upon  the  victim.  To  separate  beer  from 
ardent  spirits  in  legislation,  and  exempting  beer  and  wine  from  the 
strong  restrictions  against  the  stronger  beverages,  will  prove  terribly 
disastrous." 

"  A  man  who  is  not  a  total  abstainer  from  alcoholic  beverages  is  not 
fit  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ. " 

"  To  see  Christian  men  voting  to  place  men  in  official  positions  who 
drink,  swear,  and  frequent  houses  of  prostitution,  because  they  are  can- 
didates on  a  particular  party  ticket,  is  a  disgusting  spectacle." 

"  The  most  dangerous  swindle  on  earth  is  a  religious  swindle." 
"  The  rum  power  is  doomed  in  America." 

"  The  Christian  Church,  to  purge  itself  from  all  complicity  with  the 
unholy  rum  traffic,  must  banish  alcoholic  liquors  from  the  communion 
table,  convert  or  expel  its  tippling  communicants,  and  refuse  to  stain  its 
righteous  coffers  with  the  blood  money  of  the  liquor-dealer." 

"It  is  humbuggery  to  ask  God  to  do  what  we  are  too  lazy  to  do  our- 
selves. " 

"  The  fear  of  damnation  makes  church-members,  but  the  love  of  Christ 
makes  Christians." 


522  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.    FINCH. 

"  A  man  may,  be  a  temperance  man  and  not  be  a  Christian,  but  a  man 
cannot  be  a  true  Christian  who  is  not  a  temperance  man." 

"  To  license  a  man  to  sell  ruin  because  he  will  break  law  and  sell  with- 
out license  if  you  don' t,  is  simply  compounding  felony  and  rewarding  a 
criminal  for  his  crime." 

"Beer  drinking  and  beer  saloons  make  people  idle,  ignorant,  and 
immoral. " 

"  The  beer  saloons  of  America  are  the  hot-beds  which  propagate  com- 
munism and  anarchy." 

"  Wine  and  beer,  commonly  called  the  lighter  drinks,  are  the  devil's 
kindling  wood  to  kindle  the  fire  of  appetite,  and  thus  accomplish  the 
first  fatal  step  downward  to  a  drunkard's  grave." 

"  The  churches  insist  on  divorcing  themselves  from  individual  duty, 
and  at  the  same  time  seem  to  wish  to  monopolize  all  morality.  They 
have  fought  more  over  doctrine  than  over  morals  ;  more  over  the  the- 
ological than  over  the  practical.  There  have  been  no  great  theological 
battles  over  war,  intemperance,  slavery,  oppression  of  the  poor,  etc.; 
but  over  the  questions  of  baptism,  communion,  or  the  meaning  of  some 
phrase  about  which  the  people  know  little  and  care  less,  the  controversy 
has  been  prolonged  and  deep.  If  a  surgeon  would  allow  a  man  to  bleed 
to  death  while  debating  what  method  of  compress  it  was  best  to  use,  he 
would  be  a  murderer  ;  so  the  skirts  of  the  Church  are  stained  with  the 
blood  of  those  who  have  been  lost  while  theologians  have  debated 
whether  aionios  means  everlasting  and  whether  Christ  was  immersed  or 
sprinkled.  The  all  important  question  of  man's  salvation  has  been 
made  secondary  to  the  question  of  how  to  save  him.  No  cause  has.  been 
more  neglected  by  the  Church  than  the  temperance  reform  in  point  of 
practical  aid.  Thousands  of  dollars  are  raised  yearly  for  foreign  mis- 
sions, but  our  temperance  publication  houses  have  yet  to  receive  any 
substantial  aid  from  the  Church  as  a  Church. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  523 

"  All  this  is  not  the  result  of  Christianity,  but  is  caused  by  the  lack  of 
genuine  Christianity.  It  is  the  natural  result  of  substituting  for  the 
practical  work  of  Christ  the  theories  of  denomination  ;  of  preaching  the 
Church  first  and  Christ  afterward.  I  do  not  for  a  moment  doubt  that 
the  Church  will  ultimately  take  the  temperance  question  up  and  help 
carry  it  to  a  successful  issue,  but  I  am  very  impatient  at  its  seeming 
reluctance  to  take  the  lead  in  this  matter." 

"  The  coronet  on  the  brow  of  kings  and  nobles,  the  grandest  mental 
endowments,  the  highest  culture,  the  most  brilliant  eloquence  offer  no 
protection  against  the  insidious  approach  of  the  remorseless  habit  of 
drinking.  No  class  on  earth  is  protected.  Yes,  there  is  one  class  from 
which  no  victim  has  been  snatched,  no  loved  one  taken,  no  honored  one 
seized.  That  class  is  the  total  abstainers. " 

"  The  temperance  people  of  this  country  have  no  more  opposition  to 
a  saloon-keeper,  as  a  saloon-keeper,  than  they  have  to  a  minister  as  a 
minister.  The  effects  of  the  work  of  each  is  what  they  condemn  or  up- 
hold. A  man  is  tried  not  because  of  his  works,  but  because  the  results 
are  good  or  bad." 

"  Men  talk  of  the  vested  rights  of  the  saloon-keeper.  There  is  no 
such  thing,  and  the  man  who  prates  about  the  vested  rights  of  a  saloon- 
keeper talks  the  sheerest  demagoguery  that  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  a 
fool.  He  pays  cash  from  year  to  year  for  the  privilege  of  making  drunk- 
ards of  boys,  of  making  homes  miserable,  of  wrecking  men  and  mining 
women  ;  but  the  right  to  do  it  does  not  exist." 

"  The  rights  of  man  are  limited  where  they  clash  with  the  rights  of 
other  men." 

"  Government  can  take  man  and  put  him  up  to  be  shot  at  to  protect 
its  interests  ;  then  certainly  it  should  protect  him  from  the  dirty  beer- 
shop  that  is  trying  to  murder  him." 


524  TSE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.   FINCS. 

"  We  want  no  compromise  with  the  liquor  traffic  ;  no  half-way  meas- 
ures ;  no  gilding  over  of  the  great  sin  ;  no  overtures  of  peace  with  the 
grog-shop,  so  destructive  of  human  happiness. " 

"  It  does  not  matter  whether  the  dram-shop  keeper  is  a  devil  or  an 
angel,  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors  has  the  same  evil  result. " 

"It  is  nonsense  to  say  that  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  cannot  be 
prohibited  in  this  country.  Whenever  any  national  vice  becomes 
stronger  than  the  Government,  the  Government  had  better  order  its 
grave  clothes  and  invite  mourners. " 

"  It  is  the  duty  of  Government  to  make  it  easy  to  do  right  and  difficult 
to  do  wrong.  The  work  of  individual  reformation  must  be  by  personal 
appeals,  moral  suasion,  the  removal  of  the  temptation  by  the  State.  The 
theory,  in  a  nutshell,  is,  stoop  down  into  the  gutter  and  by  personal  ex- 
ertion pull  the  fallen  out  of  the  hole,  and  when  you  have  got  him  out, 
plug  up  the  hole  by  law  so  another  shall  not  fall  in." 

"  Prohibition  laws  are  not  '  sumptuary  '  laws.  They  do  not  prescribe 
what  a  man  shall  eat  or  drink,  but  what  a  man  shall  sell.  The  only 
'  sumptuary '  laws  in  this  country  are  the  Republican  and  Democratic 
laws,  which  punish  a  man  for  drinking  too  much  whiskey." 

"  The  Government  has  no  right  to  license  a  wrong." 

"  By  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic,  the  Government  does  not 
destroy  private  property  or  take  it  for  public  use.  It  simply  prevents 
private  parties  from  using  their  property  to  the  injury  of  the  public." 

"  Prohibition  in  the  National  and  State  Constitutions,  made  effective 
by  a  political  party  pledged  to  the  principle  of  prohibition,  not  as  a 
matter  of  policy,  is  the  only  sure  remedy  for  this  most  terrible  social 
and  political  evil— the  liquor  traffic." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ADDRESSES. 
AN  EXAMINATION   OF  THE  ISSUES. 

AN   ADDBESS    DELIVERED    AT   LEWIS*    OPEBA    HOUSE,    DES     MOINES,    IA.,    APRIL 

22D,    1882. 

T~  ADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN :  I  have  come  to  your  State,  by  re- 
I  ^1  quest  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Good  Templars,  to  discuss  the  neces- 
sity, feasibility,  and  practicability  of  the  outlawry  or  inhibition  of  the 
alcoholic  liquor  traffic.  This  traffic,  having  been  indicted  by  the  legis- 
lative grand  jury,  is  now  in  the  court,  to  be  tried  by  the  grandest  jury 
of  a  republic — the  people.*  Your  legislators  have  indicted  the  alcoholic 
liquor  traffic  for  social  crime  ;  the  case  is  in  your  hands  to  investigate, 
consider,  and  determine.  The  law-making  power  being  the  one  to  pass 
on  the  question,  the  issue  involved  is  not  one  of  law,  but  of  fact.  I 
enter  this  investigation  with  misgivings  in  regard  to  my  own  abilities 
to  materially  assist  you.  I  come  as  an  assistant,  not  as  a  teacher,  and 
hope  if  I  do  anything,  I  may  assist  you  to  reach  a  just,  righteous  ver- 
dict. In  view  of  the  great  interests  involved,  I  would  not,  as  an  Ameri- 
can citizen,  dare  to  mislead  you,  but  deem  it  my  duty  to  counsel  the 
fullest,  fairest,  and  most  complete  investigation  of  all  the  facts  in  this 
case. 


*  The  Legislature  the  previous  winter  had  submitted  a  prohibitory 
amendment  to  the  State  Constitution.  The  amendment  was  to  be  voted 
on  at  a  special  election  the  following  June. 


526  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  The  advocates  who  are  defending  the  criminal  have,  and  probably 
•will  continue  to  exhaust  every  quibble  before  they  will  go  to  trial  on  the 
real  issue.  A  celebrated  lawyer  once  said  to  a  graduating  class,  '  If  you 
have  a  client  who  is  guilty,  and  who  has  no  defence,  never  let  him  be 
tried. '  '  How  will  you  prevent  it  ? '  asked  one  of  the  students.  '  If 
they  force  you  into  court,  try  the  opposing  attorney,  try  the  witnesses, 
try  the  judge,  and  if  nothing  else  will  win,  try  the  jury,  but  never  try 
your  client. '  This  advice  has  been  and  will  be  adopted  by  the  defence, 
and  it  may  be  best  for  us  at  the  commencement  of  this  investigation  to 
determine  by  whom  and  how  the  case  is  to  be  tried,  and  what  issues 
are  and  what  are  not  involved  in  the  case. 

"  This  question  is  to  be  tried  by  you  voters  not  as  Germans,  Irish- 
men, Englishmen,  Scotchmen,  New  Yorkers,  or  Illinoisans,  but  as  citizen 
voters  of  Iowa,  bound  by  your  honor  as  voters  to  do  what  in  your  honest 
judgment  is  best  for  the  State.  It  is  to  be  deprecated  that  the  advocates 
defending  the  liquor  traffic  have  thought  it  necessary  to  appeal  to  class, 
clan,  and  national  prejudices,  thereby  disintegrating  society  for  selfish 
ends.  Although  sure  demagoguery  will  not  influence  sensible  men,  it 
shows  how  utterly  reckless  and  unscrupulous  are  the  advocates  on  the 
other  side. 

"  See  what  interests  they  jeopardize  to  secure  an  acquittal.  A  repub- 
lic must  be  homogeneous  if  it  hopes  to  live  and  prosper.  An  individual 
cannot  take  into  his  stomach  pine-knots,  sticks,  stones,  tacks,  and  nails, 
allow  them  to  remain  there  unassimilated  and  undigested,  and  live  ;  so 
Iowa  cannot  take  into  her  political  organism  New  Yorkers,  Illinoisans, 
Germans,  Irishmen,  and  persons  from  other  nations  and  States,  allow 
them  to  remain  in  the  political  organism  banded  together  as  clans  and 
nationalities,  unassimilated  and  undigested,  and  politically  or  socially 
prosper.  Anything  that  prevents  the  assimilation  or  digestion  of  food 
in  the  physical  organism  is  an  enemy  of  the  body.  Any  man  or  class  of 
men  who  try  to  induce  Germans  to  band  together  in  this  country  as 
Germans,  or  Irishmen  as  Irishmen,  is  a  traitor  to  the  Government  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOIIN  B.   FINCH.  527 

its  liberties.  All  such  work  and  talk  is  un-Republican,  un-Democratic, 
and  un-American,  as  well  as  an  insult  to  the  nationality  thus  sought  to 
be  used  as  tools. 

"  The  term  '  German  vote,'  which,  during  the  last  few  years,  has  be- 
come a  power  in  certain  political  circles,  originated  in  this  vile  dema- 
goguery.  All  voters  in  this  country  are  Americans,  native  and  foreign 
born.  No  man  has  a  right  to  vote  in  Iowa  as  a  New  Yorker  or  a  German. 
If  he  votes,  it  is  as  a  citizen  of  Iowa.  Any  man  who  does  not  love  this 
country  more  than  any  other  had  better  emigrate.  American  know- 
nothingism  was  a  curse  to  this  nation,  because  it  acted  as  a  disintegrat- 
ing force  on  society.  German  know-nothingism,  as  now  developed  by 
tricksters  and  liquor-sellers,  is  of  the  same  class  of  political  heresies.  If 
it  continue  it  will  undoubtedly  develop  American  know-nothingism  as 
its  antidote,  when  the  Germans  who  have  been  led  into  this  movement 
will  be  the  ones  to  suffer,  as  five  American  votes  will  count  more  than 
one  German  vote.  But  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  accursed  political 
trickery  may  die  before  such  a  remedy  will  be  necessary.  No  greater 
insult  could  be  offered  to  the  German-American  voters  of  Iowa  than  to 
insinuate  that  they  are  controlled  by  their  stomachs  instead  of  their 
brains,  and  that  with  a  swill-pail  full  of  beer  they  can  be  led  up  to  the 
polls  and  voted  either  way.  The  grass  on  Southern  battle-fields,  grow- 
ing green  over  the  graves  of  noble  Americans  born  in  Germany,  who 
died  for  this  country,  hurls  the  lie  in  the  teeth  of  the  men  who  claim 
that  Germans  are  controlled  by  appetite  and  by  liquor  demagogues,  not 
by  principle. 

"  These  men  who  appeal  to  German  ideas,  theories,  and  practices,  do 
so  to  subserve  selfish  interests,  and  I  submit  that  such  practices  are 
enough  to  cast  doubt  on  the  merit  of  their  defence.  Anything  that  ex- 
cites race-feeling  instead  of  intelligence,  appetite  instead  of  reason, 
passion  instead  of  conscience,  self-interest  instead  of  duty,  should  be 
shut  out  of  a  case  involving  grave  questions  of  the  functions  and  duties 
of  Government. 


528  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

"  The  voters  should  investigate  the  arguments  and  facts  brought  for- 
ward by  both  sides,  and  on  these,  and  these  alone,  as  explained  by  their 
own  experience  and  observation,  render  their  verdict. 

11  Among  the  issues  not  involved  in  this  case  at  present  is  that  of 
political  partisanship.  I  stand  before  you  to-night  a  Democrat,  with 
my  reason  and  intelligence  indorsing  the  principles  of  American  democ- 
racy. Not  as  it  is  represented  in  some  of  the  State  platforms  written  by 
political  tricksters  to  catch  traitors — I  have  no  sympathy  with  this  gerry- 
mandering of  political  platforms  to  catch  soreheads  from  other  parties, 
believing,  as  I  do,  that  a  man  who  leaves  his  own  party  for  spite  and 
votes  with  another  party  for  revenge  is  an  unsafe  and  unreliable  man, 
and  not  worth  purchasing  at  such  a  price — but  believing  in  the  prin- 
ciples as  laid  down  when  the  party  passed  seven  prohibitory  laws  in  as 
many  different  States. 

"My  friend  Senator  Kimball  is  a  tried,  true  Bepublican.  On  the 
conclusions  to  be  deduced  from  certain  political  data  we  differ  broadly, 
but  on  this  issue  we  agree.  Love  of  home,  country,  civilization,  and 
liberty  are  as  equally  dear  to  the  Democratic  as  to  the  Republican  father, 
and  if  these  mutual  interests  are  endangered  by  the  liquor  traffic,  par- 
tisanship is  forgotten  in  the  struggle  with  the  common  enemy.  '  For 
home  and  native  land  '  is  the  war-cry  that  makes  us  brothers. 

"  Neither  is  the  issue  of  the  use  nor  abstinence  from  the  use  of  alco- 
holic liquors  involved  in  this  campaign.  The  prohibitory  constitutional 
amendment  .no  more  prohibits  the  USE  of  intoxicating  liquors  than  Sec- 
tion 4035  of  the  statutes  of  Iowa  prohibits  the  USE  of  adulterated  foods. 
That  section  reads :  '  If  any  person  knowingly  sell  any  kind  of  diseased  or 
corrupted  or  unwholesome  provisions,  whether  for  meat  or  drink,  without  mak- 
ing the  same  fully  known  io  the  buyer,  he  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  in 
the  county  jail  not  more  than  thirty  days,  or  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  one  hundred 
dollars.' 

"  The  section  does  not  prohibit  the  use.  If  you  want  to  eat  diseased 
meat  you  injure  yourself  and,  indirectly,  society  ;  but  if  you  sell  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  529 

meat,  the  sale  is  a  social  act,  you  injure  another,  and  society  interferes 
to  protect  its  units  from  imposition  and  injury.  This  section  deals  with 
the  traffic,  not  with  the  use.  Trade  being  a  social  institution,  society 
has  a  right  to  destroy  it  if  its  effects  are  deleterious.  Use  is  an  individ- 
ual matter  over  which  society  has  no  control  as  long  as  the  individual 
does  not  injure  it  by  the  practice. 

"  Section  4041  of  Iowa  statutes  reads  :  '  If  any  person  throw,  or  cause  to 
be  thrown,  any  dead  animal  into  any  river,  well,  spring,  cistern,  reservoir, 
stream,  or  pond,  he  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail  not 
less  than  ten  nor  more  than  thirty  days,  or  by  fine  not  less  than  five  nor  more 
than  one  hundred  dollars. ' 

"  This  deals  with  the  public  act  of  poisoning  the  water,  not  with  the 
individual  use  of  the  poisoned  water.  It  does  not  say  you  shall  not 
drink,  but  it  says  you  shall  not  poison  the  water.  The  one  act  directly 
affects  society  ;  the  other  affects  the  individual  and  indirectly  disturbs 
society,  and  the  former  is  prohibited. 

"  Society  will  never  undertake  to  say  that  an  individual  shall  not  read 
obscene  literature,  but  it  does  say  individuals  shall  not  print  and  circu- 
late such  literature,  to  corrupt  the  elements  of  which  society  is  com- 
posed, thereby  endangering  its  life,  prosperity,  usefulness,  and  peace. 
Self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of  life,  with  States  as  well  as  individ- 
uals. Trade,  traffic,  business  depends  largely  upon  society — the  State— 
for  its  existence.  Anything  that  affects  deleteriously  the  health,  moral- 
ity, order,  or  safety  of  the  public  by  its  presence  or  conduct,  the  State 
must  destroy  as  far  as  in  its  power,  to  preserve  its  own  life.  The  State 
must  guard  against  those  social  diseases  that  tend  to  break  down  its 
system,  or  it  will  die.  The  thing  which  every  trade  and  traffic  must 
show  is  that  it  strengthens  and  builds  up  the  health  of  society.  If  it 
fails  to  show  this  ;  if  it  generates  disease  in  the  political  system  ;  if  it 
acts  as  an  ulcer  on  the  body  politic,  society — the  State — must,  to  main- 
tain its  own  existence,  destroy  as  best  it  can  ;  and  no  rights  are  violated 
thereby,  the  traffic  having  forfeited  all  right  to  demand  legal  protection 


530  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

by  its  indirect  attacks  on  the  life,  prosperity,  and  order  of  the 
State. 

"  The  friends  of  the  amendment,  recognizing  the  fact  that  society  is 
made  up  of  individuals,  and  thnt  the  health  and  character  of  the  unit  of 
society — the  individual— affects  to  a  very  large  degree  the  health,  pros- 
perity, and  usefulness  of  the  political  system,  believe  it  to  be  for  the 
best  interest  and,  in  short,  the  duty  of  society,  to  make  everything  as 
favorable  as  possible  for  the  development  of  those  traits  and  character- 
istics of  the  race  which  tend  to  build  up  and  strengthen  its  power  for 
good,  and  to  destroy  as  far  as  possible  all  institutions,  customs,  and 
practices  which  tend  to  develop  those  viler  characteristics  of  the  race 
which  endanger  its  life  and  weaken  its  power  to  bless  the  people.  In 
short,  they  believe  with  the  great  English  statesman  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  Government  to  make  it  as  easy  as  possible  for  the  individual  to  do 
right  and  as  difficult  as  possible  for  him  to  do  wrong. 

"  The  anti-amendment  advocates  claim,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  society  to  take  into  its  system  those  institutions  which  generate 
corruption  and  disease  of  the  elements  of  its  own  life,  in  order  to  test 
what  elements  can  stand  the  strain  and  be  stronger  by  it.  In  other 
words,  that  an  individual  had  better  take  corruption  or  poison  in  order 
to  generate  a  fever  to  purify  his  system.  Would  not  the  learned  materia- 
medicist  say,  '  It  is  better  never  to  poison  the  system  and  subject  its 
elements  to  such  a  test '? 

"  The  issue  in  this  campaign  is  not  a  question  of  total  abstinence. 
In  Nebraska  there  are  thousands  of  total  abstainers  who  are  Prohibi- 
tionists. There  are  also  hundreds  of  Prohibitionists  who  are  drink- 
ers. 

"  The  ex-chief  justice  of  my  own  State,  one  of  the  ablest  criminal  law- 
yers on  this  continent — learned,  logical,  and  eloquent — whose  hatred  for 
the  dram-shop  is  so  intense  he  can  hardly  find  language  to  express  it,  is 
a  man  who  used  to  drink  wine,  and  I  think  he  does  yet.  When  you  talk 
to  him  in  regard  to  total  abstinence,  he  says  :  '  That  is  an  individual 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.   FINCH.  531 

matter.'  When  you  talk  to  him  in  regard  to  the  American  dram-shop, 
he  says  :  '  It  is  a  social  nuisance  that  must  be  suppressed.' 

"  The  man  who  drinks  liquor  may  love  his  home  ;  the  man  who  uses 
liquor  may  love  his  wife  ;  the  man  who  uses  liquor  may  love  his  child  ; 
and  the  man  who  abstains  may  do  the  same  thing.  In  this  campaign, 
and  on  this  issue  of  home  and  family,  they  are  one  ;  and  if  the  liquor 
traffic  is  proved  to  be  the  enemy  of  home  and  family,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  drinker  should  not  stand  with  the  abstainer  in  favor  of  this 
amendment. 

"  This  question  of  the  prohibition  of  the  alcoholic  liquor  traffic  is  in 
no  sense  a  question  of  individual  abstinence  any  more  than  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  sale  of  rotten  beef  is  a  question  of  the  prohibition  of  eating 
it,  or  the  prohibition  of  the  '  sale  of  bad  milk  a  question  of  drinking  it. 
The  one  implies  the  protection  extended  by  a  State  to  society  as  a  whole  ; 
the  other  implies  the  individual  action  based  on  a  man's  judgment. 

"  It  may  be  best  for  us  to  look  for  a  moment  at  this  proposition,  be- 
cause the  opposition  will  almost  surely  endeavor  to  drag  these  two  dis- 
tinct lines  of  work  together,  and  endeavor  to  whip  out  of  the  prohibition 
ranks  all  men  who  drink  alcoholic  liquors.  On  the  principles  under- 
lying the  temperance  reform  in  this  country  all  men  are  agreed. 

"  There  has  hardly  been  a  session  of  the  Brewers'  Congress  or  the 
Distillers'  Union  in  the  last  twenty  years  that  has  not  resolved  against 
the  evils  of  intemperance.  On  the  primary  proposition  that  these  exist 
all  classes  agree.  The  only  question  is  the  question  of  remedy. 

"  The  theory  of  the  Prohibitionist  is  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to 
make  it  as  easy  as  possible  to  do  right,  and  just  as  difficult  to  do  wrong  ; 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  make  the  road  up  to  manhood  and 
honor  as  smooth  as  possible  ;  to  plant  along  the  side  of  the  road  the 
flowers  of  hope,  of  promise,  and  of  public  approbation.  Into  the  road 
down  to  licentiousness,  and  vice,  and  crime,  and  infamy,  and  death, 
roll  the  rocks  of  law,  hedge  it  with  the  brambles  of  public  opinion,  the 
briers  of  public  condemnation,  and  then  place  the  citizen  at  the  begin- 


532  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

ning  of  the  two  ways,  and  say  to  him  :  '  Take  your  choice.'  The  State 
can  never  enter  there  and  say,  You  must  go  this  way  and  shall  not  go  the 
other.  It  will  simply  make  the  road  to  manhood  pleasant  and  the  road 
to  disgrace  disagreeable,  and  allow  the  young  man  standing  at  the 
entrance  of  the  two  paths  to  choose  along  which  he  will  journey.  He 
can  go  to  heaven  if  he  will,  or  he  can  go  down  to  ruin  if  he  will.  In 
the  way  of  his  free  moral  agency  the  State  can  never  come,  until  by  his 
individual  action  he  injures  others.  At  this  starting-point  the  moral 
suasion  organizations  come  to  persuade,  to  convince  that  it  is  best  for 
him  to  go  the  better  way.  The  State  simply  steps  in  to  prevent  tempta- 
tion, leaving  the  free  will  of  the  individual  untrammelled,  while  the 
work  of  the  moral  suasion  society  is  to  show  the  individual  what  is  right 
and  what  is  wrong. 

"  Take  another  view  :  Intemperance,  as  it  is  known  to  the  people  of 
this  State,  is  known  to  the  scientific  world  as  alcoholism  or  dipsomania — 
better  known  to  the  American  physician,  the  English  physician,  the 
French  physician  than  any  other  form  of  chronic  poisoning.  The  Pro- 
hibitionist says  :  '  The  same  rules  of  common-sense  should  be  applied 
in  the  treatment  of  this  disease  that  are  applied  in  the  treatment  of 
other  diseases.'  The  only  cure  for  the  man  who  has  the  small-pox — you 
know  something  of  this  disease  from  the  terrible  scare  which  swept  over 
the  country  last  winter — is  the  treatment  of  kindness,  nursing,  and  doc- 
toring. It  does  no  good  to  pound  a  man  on  the  head  with  a  club  who 
has  the  small-pox.  It  would  do  him  no  good  to  put  him  in  the  '  cooler ' 
or  to  set  him  at  work  breaking  stone.  The  only  way  to  treat  a  sick  man 
is  to  treat  him  with  care  and  scientific  treatment.  The  people  use  com- 
mon-sense rules  for  treatment  of  small-pox — treatment  for  the  sick,  vac- 
cination for  the  well,  quarantine  for  the  disease.  In  the  temperance 
movement  the  temperance  societies  adopt  the  same  methods.  The 
pledge  is  vaccination.  If  it  does  not  take  the  first  time  they  vaccinate 
over  again,  and  keep  on  vaccinating  until  it  works.  Last  spring,  when 
it  was  reported  that  small-pox  was  spreading  from  every  part  of  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  533 

country,  there  was  heard  a  universal  demand  for  the  interference  of 
Government,  not  with  the  idea  that  its  interposition  could  cure  those 
men  who  were  sick,  but  with  the  idea  that  the  hand  of  Government 
through  that  agency  known  as  the  police  power  of  the  State  could  keep 
the  disease  within  certain  limits  and  protect  those  who  were  well. 

"  The  State  of  Iowa  has  adopted  this  theory. 

"  Section  4039  of  your  statutes  reads  : 

'  '  If  any  person  inoculate  himself  or  any  other  person,  or  suffer  himself  to 
be  inoculated  with  small-pox  within  this  Slate  with  intent  to  cause  the  spread  of 
the  disease,  or  come  within  this  State  with  the  intent  to  cause  the  prevalence  or 
spread,  etc.,  he  shall  be  imprisoned  and  fined.' 

"  The  State  does  not  say  people  shall  not  catch  the  small-pox,  but  the 
State  will  make  it  as  difficult  to  catch  it  as  possible.  The  love,  care, 
and  kindness  shown  to  the  patients  sick  with  contagious  disease  is  moral 
suasion  ;  the  red  flag  out  in  front  of  the  house,  the  strong  hand  of  quar- 
antine, is  prohibition.  This  prohibition  is  of  the  State.  If  this  system 
is  sensible  with  other  diseases,  the  same  system  should  be  applied  to 
this  widespread  disease  of  intemperance. 

"  Yellow-fever  swept  up  the  Mississippi  and  located  at  Memphis.  The 
second  year,  within  twenty-four  hours  after  the  time  it  appeared  in 
Memphis,  every  place  which  had  communication  with  that  city  had 
quarantined  against  it ;  they  stopped  the  passage  of  merchandise,  and 
even  stopped  the  passage  of  United  States  mails  from  the  city  until  dis- 
infected. Why  did  they  do  this  ?  They  could  not  legislate  the  poor  fel- 
lows who  had  the  yellow-fever  back  to  health,  but  they  could  legislate 
them  into  a  quarantine  to  prevent  other  people  from  catching  it. 

"  Twenty-one  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  people  in  this 
country  died  from  yellow-fever  iu  the  last  ten  years.  Take  that  num- 
ber ;  think  of  it — 21,384  !  Does  any  man  say  it  was  wrong  to  quarantine 
Memphis,  though  it  destroyed  merchandise,  though  it  destroyed  busi- 
ness, though  it  wrecked  the  whole  city  ?  No  ;  it  was  right !  The  dis- 
ease of  alcoholism,  during  the  same  time,  has  killed  more  than  six  hun- 


534  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

dred  aud  fifty  thousand  American  citizens.  This  is  not  the  statement  of 
a  temperance  lecturer— it  is  the  statement  of  Willard  Parker,  the  first 
surgeon  of  this  country.  It  is  the  statement  of  N.  S.  Davis,  the  cele- 
brated physician  of  Chicago,  and  it  is  the  statement  of  every  doctor  in 
this  country  who  is  tall  enough  in  his  profession  to  be  seen  over  three 
counties.  And  yet  the  drunkard  makers  object  to  quarantine.  Alco- 
holism has  killed  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and  there  are  men  in 
this  audience,  I  presume,  with  these  facts  before  them,  who  have  been 
so  mistaken  that  they  have  voted  to  license  a  man  to  take  the  seeds  of 
this  terrible  disease  in  his  hands  and  sow  them  among  the  boys  and  girls 
of  this  country.  Yellow-fever  has  ruined  less  men,  less  women,  and 
less  children  in  Memphis  than  alcoholism  has  in  the  State  of  Iowa.  The 
one  is  prohibited,  the  other  licensed. 

"  While  the  churches  and  the  moral  suasion  organizations  go  down  to 
the  gutter  after  the  poor  drunkard,  while  they  endeavor  to  cure  his  sick 
body  by  scientific  treatment  and  his  sick  soul  by  the  grace  of  God,  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  State  to  do  away  with  the  places,  to  destroy  the  trade 
which  incessantly  turns  out  these  sick  men  and  keeps  the  supply  con- 
stant, and  forces  this  work  through  the  years  and  on  through  the  ages. 

' '  The  question  in  regard  to  State  action  is  not  the  qiiestion  of  what 
the  treatment  of  the  individual  shall  be.  It  is  simply  the  question  of 
what  is  the  duty  of  the  State,  what  is  the  power  of  the  State  to  restrain 
or  to  prevent  the  spread  of  this  fearfully  contagious  disease. 

"  The  question  before  the  people  of  Iowa  during  the  next  sixty  days 
is  not :  '  Are  you  a  Democrat  ?  Are  you  a  Republican?  Are  you  a  Pres- 
byterian? Are  you  a  drinker  or  an  abstainer?  What  is  your  individual 
convictions  in  regard  to  the  use  of  liquors  ?  '  but,  '  What  is  the  effect  of 
the  American  dram-shop  on  the  best  interests  of  the  State  ?  '  This  is  the  sole 
issue  in  this  campaign.  Everything  else  is  subterfuge —is  thrown  in  to 
deceive  ;  and  every  person  who  endeavors  to  prevent  the  people  from 
considering  this  primary  question  is  working  in  the  interests  of  the 
liquor  men. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  535 

"  I  was  through  the  canvass  in  Kansas.  The  same  issue  was  presented 
there,  and  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  fight  I  never  heard  the 
liquor  men  meet  the  issue  squarely  and  fairly  on  its  merits. 

"  The  whole  question  to  be  tried  is  simply,  What  is  the  relation  of  the 
liquor  traffic  to  society  in  this  State  ?  That  much  and  no  more.  I  am 
well  aware  that  when  you  have  reached  this  point,  when  you  have  ar- 
raigned the  liquor  interest  on  its  record,  and  insist  it  shall  come  into 
court  and  plead  to  the  indictment,  that  it  will  at  once  move  to  quash 
the  indictment  on  certain  specious  sophistries.  One  will  be  this  :  that 
this  business  is  an  old  institution  ;  that  the  State  is  composed  of  people 
who  have  come  from  different  countries  and  different  nationalities  ;  that 
the  German,  having  come  from  his  Fatherland,  has  the  right  to  bring 
here  its  customs  ;  that  the  Irishman,  coming  from  the  Evergreen  Isle, 
has  the  right  to  bring  the  customs  of  that  country  here. 

"  Let  us  look  at  this  position  for  a  moment — the  position  that  is  every- 
where held  and  urged  by  the  liquor  men  of  this  country.  Let  us  ex- 
amine whether  this  idea  is  in  harmony  with  the  primary  principles  of 
Government. 

"  Political  institutions  are  the  outgrowth  of  social  customs,  not  social 
customs  the  outgrowth  of  political  institutions.  Society  is  built  from 
the  bottom,  not  from  the  top.  The  home  comes  first  ;  then  families 
assemble,  and  you  have  a  village  ;  villages,  and  you  have  a  township  ; 
townships,  and  you  have  a  county  ;  counties,  and  you  have  a  State  ;  and, 
in  this  country,  States  and  you  have  a  nation.  All  political  customs 
grow  out  of  social  life.  The  political  customs  of  this  country  are  the 
legitimate  children  of  the~social  customs  and  life  of  the  founders  of  the 
Government,  of  the  men  who  made  our  liberties  and  our  institutions 
possible. 

"  If  I  ever  get  indignant  in  my  life,  it  is  when  I  hear  men  born  in 
other  countries,  together  with  dirty,  dough-faced  American  demagogues, 
sneering  at  the  Pilgrims,  and  ridiculing  Puritanical  morals  and  ideas. 
No  man  has  greater  respect  for  the  good  traits  of  our  foreign-born  citi- 


536  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

zens  than  myself,  but  I  believe  that  a  native  born  American  is  as  good 
as  a  foreign-born  American,  as  long  as  his  life  and  his  conduct  are  as 
good  ;  and  I  most  earnestly  protest,  in  free  America,  against  the  beer 
smut-mill  being  turned  on  the  men  who  planted  our  liberties,  and  suf- 
fered and  died  to  perpetuate  them.  A  few  American  sneaks,  in  order  to 
catch  the  beer  vote,  enter  the  cemetery  where  America's  noblest  dead 
are  buried,  desecrate  the  graves,  and  attempt  to  defile  the  memory  of 
those  who  built  the  Government  and  established  the  liberties  tinder 
which  these  ghouls  live.  Who  were  these  Pilgrims  who  are  now  made 
a  byword  and  jest  by  the  beer-guzzlers  of  this  country  ?  What  did 
they  come  to  America  for  ?  What  kind  of  a  country  did  they  find  ? 
Britain's  poetess  answers  : 

"  '  The  breaking  waves  dashed  high 

On  a  stern  and  rock-bound  coast, 
And  the  woods  against  a  stormy  sky 

Their  giant  branches  tossed  ; 
And  the  heavy  night  hung  dark 

The  hills  and  waters  o'er, 
When  a  band  of  exiles  moored  their  bark 

On  the  wild  New  England  shore. 
Not  as  the  conqueror  comes, 

They,  the  true-hearted,  came  ; 
Not  with  the  roll  of  the  stirring  drums, 

And  the  trumpet  that  sings  of  fame  ; 
Not  as  the  flying  come, 

In  silence  and  in  fear  ; 
They  shook  the  depths  of  the  desert  gloom 

With  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer. 
Amidst  the  storm  they  sang, 

And  the  stars  heard,  and  the  sea  ; 
And  the  sounding  aisles  of  the  dim  woods  rang 

To  the  anthems  of  the  free. 
The  ocean  eagle  soared 

From  his  nest  by  the  white  wave's  foam, 
And  the  rocking  pinee  of  the  forest  roared— 

This  was  their  welcome  home, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  537 

There  were  men  with  hoary  hair 

Amidst  that  Pilgrim  hand  ; 
Why  had  they  come  to  wither  there. 

Away  from  their  childhood's  land  ? 
There  was  woman's  fearless  eye, 

Lit  hy  her  deep  love's  truth  ; 
There  was  manhood's  brow  serenely  high, 

And  the  fiery  heart  of  youth. 
What  sought  they  thus  afar  ? 

Bright  jewels  of  the  mine  ? 
The  wealth  of  seas,  the  spoils  of  war  ? — 

They  sought  a  faith's  pure  shrine  1 
Ay,  call  it  holy  ground, 

The  soil  where  first  they  trod  ; 

They  have  left  unstained  what  there  they  found- 
Freedom  to  worship  God.' 

"  Such  was  their  coming,  and  such  the  motives  which  led  them  to 
leave  the  Old  "World  and  its  comforts  for  the  unknown  New.  By  struggle 
and  toil,  through  disease  and  suffering,  they  developed  the  land  and 
planted  the  ideas  of  liberty  in  their  descendants.  Their  theories  of  lib- 
erty and  morals  were  developed  by  their  children. 

"Who  died  at  Lexington?  Whose  blood  wet  the  ground  at  Bunker 
Hill  ?  Whose  breast  was  in  front  of  British  bullets  at  Brandywine  and 
Germantown  ?  Who  starved  at  Valley  Forge  ? 

"  Through  blood  the  land  was  made  free.  What  was  then  done  ?  Did 
Americans  close  the  doors  of  the  Republic  and  saj  :  '  We  are  free  ;  let 
the  world  take  care  of  itself '  ?  No  !  They  welcomed  the  down-trodden 
of  all  nations.  Immigrants  have  not  been  asked  to  come  as  alien  pau- 
pers. They  have  been  received  as  brothers,  and  made  members  of  the 
family.  After  all  this,  for  these  refugees  from  the  despotisms  of  Europe 
to  attempt  to  destroy  American  customs  by  traducing  American  dead  is 
disgraceful.  If  they  came  here  to  be  Americans,  they  are  welcome  ;  but 
if  they  prefer  European  ideas  and  customs,  and  the  governments  which 
those  ideas  and  customs  have  produced,  a  ticket  from  New  York  to 


538  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH. 

Europe  will  cost  little  more  than  a  ticket  from  Europe  to  New  York,  and 
they  are  free  to  go.  Americans  are  satisfied  with  American  institutions 
and  American  liberties. 

"  This  Government  is  the  child  of  that  morality,  that  theory  of  relig- 
ious liberty,  that  theory  of  governmental  life  which  was  taught  by  the 
men  who  settled  and  developed  the  Colonies  ;  while,  on  the  contrary, 
the  German  despotism  of  to-day  is  the  legitimate  child  of  the  German 
social  life  and  German  social  customs.  Whenever  the  people  in  this 
country  destroy  American  social  customs  and  American  social  life  ; 
•whenever  the  people  drift  away  from  the  rocks  on  which  their  forefathers 
founded  this  Government  into  the  seas  where  despotisms  have  floated  ; 
whenever  American  customs  cease  and  the  customs  of  despotic  Europe 
take  their  place,  this  Government  had  better  order  its  grave-clothes  and 
invite  in  the  mourners.  America,  as  a  republic,  can  only  live  while  the 
customs  that  made  it  a  republic  live.  This  theory  of  government  can 
only  continue  while  the  social  life  that  developed  it  continues.  When  a 
different  form  of  social  life,  a  different  form  of  social  thought,  a  differ- 
ent form  of  social  teaching,  a  different  form  of  moral  training  come  in, 
I  have  no  hope  for  the  Government. 

"Suppose  I  could  to-night  take  a  hundred  thousand  native-born 
Americans,  and,  with  a  motion  of  the  hand,  plant  them  over  in  the  Ger- 
man Empire,  would  not  Von  Bismarck  have  a  lively  time  governing 
them  ?  Why  ?  Because  their  training  in  their  mothers'  arms,  their 
training  in  the  cradle,  their  training  in  the  primary  school,  in  the  graded 
school,  in  the  academy,  in  the  university,  have  all  developed  a  different 
line  of  thought,  a  different  theory  of  government,  a  different  theory  of 
responsibility,  from  that  developed  by  the  German  social  life,  the  Ger- 
man social  customs,  and  the  German  schools.  The  idea  that  because 
customs  have  lived  in  another  country,  and  have  been  developed  in 
another  form  of  government,  that  they  must  of  right  be  allowed  to  con- 
tinue here,  is  utterly  fallacioxis. 

"  Suppose  before  the  missionaries  went  to  the  Fiji  Islands,  a  man 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  539 

from  that  island  had  drifted  over  and  located  in  the  city  of  Des  Moines. 
(You  know  that  the  Fiji  Islanders  were  cannibals.)  Suppose  this  Fiji 
Islander  had  come.  Now,  he  is  a  different  man  from  the  American. 
His  teeth  are  different,  his  head  is  especially  different.  He  has  differ- 
ent passions,  different  appetites,  different  ideas.  For  a  time  he  re- 
strains his  inclinations,  but  at  last,  the  old  appetite  in  him  being 
aroused,  he  makes  a  raid  on  your  home,  catches  your  fat  baby  boy,  kills 
him,  dresses  him,  cooks  him,  and  puts  him  on  the  table  for  a  meal. 
You  get  your  shotgun  and  go  up  to  interview  him.  Don' t  kill  him  on 
sight.  When  you  see  what  he  is  about,  you  say :  '  What  have  you 
done  ? ' 

"  '  Why,'  he  says,  '  nothing,  only  killed  a  boy.' 

"  '  But  you  have  committed  murder.' 

"  He  says,  '  I  do  not  understand.' 

"  '  Why,  you  have  killed  this  child.  You  had  no  right  to  kill  him. 
You  have  no  right  to  do  what  you  are  doing.' 

"  '  I  thought  this  was  a  free  country  ! '  he  exclaims. 

"  '  It  is  a  free  country,  but  it  is  not  a  free  country  to  commit  murder 
in.' 

"  '  But,'  he  says,  '  I  used  to  eat  babies  over  in  the  Fiji  Islands.  Have 
not  I  got  the  right  to  eat  them  here  ?  ' 

"  What  would  be  the  answer?  '  Sir,  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  is  not  the  Government  of  the  Fiji  Islands.  Your  social  customs 
have  developed  your  form  of  government,  our  social  customs  have  de- 
veloped our  form  of  government.  When  you  leave  that  Government 
you  must  leave  every  custom  that  is  inimical  to  this  Government  or 
destructive  to  its  institutions,  for  we  have  no  desire  to  have  introduced 
here  the  customs  that  propagated  the  governments  of  your  native  island. ' 

"  Suppose  the  ex-Khedive  of  Egypt,  when  he  was  deposed,  instead  of 
moving  to  Italy,  had  come  over  here  with  his  wives  and  children  and 
gone  to  housekeeping  in  Des  Moines.  An  officer  takes  him  by  the 
shoulder,  and  says  :  '  Hold  on,  sir  !  What  are  you  doing  ?  ' 


540  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  '  I  am  keeping  house.' 

"  '  You  are  my  prisoner.' 

"  'What  for?' 

"  '  Bigamy.' 

"  '  What  is  bigamy  ?  ' 

"  '  Having  more  than  one  •wife." 

"  '  I  thought  this  was  a  free  country  ! ' 

"  'It  is.' 

"  '  I  used  to  have  these  wives  in  Egypt.  Have  not  I  the  right  to  have 
them  here  ? ' 

"  What  would  you  say  to  him  ?  '  Sir,  this  Republic  is  a  different  Gov- 
ernment from  the  despotism  of  Egypt.  This  Government  is  a  product 
of  our  social  institutions.  Consequently,  when  you  come  to  this  coun- 
try you  must  leave  every  custom  that  would  be  injurious  to  the  welfare 
of  this  country  and  the  perpetuity  of  this  Government.'  The  idea  that 
American  freedom  means  universal  license  is  the  dangerous  idea  in  this 
country. 

"  In  my  State  a  young  woman  recently  from  Europe  was  brought  into 
a  court  charged  with  the  murder  of  her  infant  child.  When  the  indict- 
ment was  read,  and  she  was  asked,  through  an  interpreter,  to  plead,  her 
answer  was  :  '  I  thought  this  was  a  free  country. ' 

"  The  idea  that  this  country  has  no  form,  no  customs,  no  laws,  no  in- 
stitutions, which  immigrants  are  bound  to  respect  ;  that  men  have  the 
right  to  come  here  and  follow  any  customs,  any  ideas,  any  theories,  and 
any  practices,  is  an  idea  utterly  antagonistic  to  American  institutions, 
and  if  carried  out  will  ultimately  build  on  the  chaos  of  our  liberties  the 
worst  despotism  that  the  world  ever  saw. 

"  At  the  birth  of  this  Government,  the  institutions  of  the  Colonies 
were  the  institutions  of  a  monarchy  in  a  modified  form.  The  men  who 
settled  at  Plymouth  Rock  were  men  who  had  given  up,  in  a  measure, 
their  old  ideas  and  theories,  and  a  new  social  system  had -been  slowly 
developing.  This  change  ultimately  developed  a  social  life  that  would 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  541 

not  endure  even  the  limited  monarchy  of  Great  Britain.  "When  the 
United  States  came  into  existence  as  a  nation,  they  were  a  long  way 
from  having  republican  institutions.  The  American  leaders  were  not 
destructionists,  they  were  reformers. 

"  The  difference  between  the  French  and  American  Revolutions  was 
this— the  Americans  simply  wished  to  tear  down  the  building  of  a  mon- 
archy, to  take  out  of  it  all  the  material  they  could  use  in  another  form 
of  government,  while  the  French  endeavored  to  destroy  and  build  wholly 
new. 

"  The  work  of  American  statesmen  for  the  first  hundred  years  of  this 
Republic  has  been  the  work  of  changing,  adjusting,  and  trying.  Look  ! 
see  what  changes  have  been  made.  Examine  the  law  ;  you  could  hardly 
recognize  it  as  the  child  of  the  law  in  existence  when  the  Colonies  be- 
came free.  The  old  theory  was  that  the  king  received  his  authority 
from  God,  that  he  stood  in  the  relation  of  God  to  the  people  ;  with  the 
destruction  of  that  idea,  the  individual  became  the  sovereign,  and  the 
ruler  the  representative  of  the  people.  The  result  of  this  was  a  change 
in  the  law  in  accordance  with  the  change  in  ideas.  The  old  theory  of 
the  divine  right  of  kings  to  rule  the  people  developed  the  theory  of  the 
divine  right  of  the  husband  to  rule  the  wife.  The  old  marriage  forms— 
every  one  of  them — contained  a  clause  stipulating  that  the  wife  should 
obey  the  husband.  If  I  had  been  young  at  that  time,  and  one  of  the 
ladies  here  had  also  been  living,  worth  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  bonds, 
notes,  and  real  estate,  and  married  me,  by  the  act  of  marriage  (unless 
her  property  had  been  entailed  upon  her  and  her  children)  every  dollar 
would  have  become  mine.  I  could  have  spent  it  or  gambled  it  awuy, 
and  she  could  not  have  prevented  me  by  other  means  than  love  or  the 
broomstick.  The  old  law  has  been  changed,  and  shaped,  and  polished, 
until  to-day,  in  my  State,  if  I  wanted  my  wife's  money,  the  only  way  I 
could  get  it  would  be  to  persuade  her  to  give  it  to  me.  She  can  buy  and 
sell  property  and  transact  business  in  her  own  name  ;  and  next  Novem- 
ber many  of  Nebraska's  voters  will  say  that  the  women  of  the  State  have 


§42  THE  LIFE  OF  JOUN  B.   FINCH. 

the  same  right  to  a  voice  in  the  Government  under  which  they  live  that 
the  men  have.  This  is  the  legitimate  result  of  a  change  of  customs  from 
a  monarchy  to  the  broader  idea  of  a  democracy,  founded  upon  the  moral- 
ity and  intelligence  of  the  people. 

"  The  founders  of  the  Republic  recognized  the  fact  that  the  founda- 
tion of  universal  liberty  must  be  universal  education.  At  the  birth  of 
this  Government  the  schools  of  America  were  private  schools,  but  the 
necessity  of  making  the  citizen-sovereign  intelligent  developed  our  free- 
school  system.  All  the  institutions  that  America  inherited  have  been 
moulded,  shaped,  and  developed.  Among  these  inherited  institutions 
was  the  accursed  drinking  place.  The  dram-shop  is  not  a  child  of 
American  customs,  liberty,  ideas,  schools,  or  theories.  It  was  inherited 
from  the  despotic  governments  of  Europe.  At  the  laying  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Government  there  were  men  who  openly  denied  that  it  should 
continue  to  be  in  the  new  structure. 

"  Those  who  favored  a  compromise  were  in  a  majority.  They  said  : 
'  It  will  not  be  fair  to  reject  the  liquor  traffic  until  it  has  been  tried  in 
the  new  form  of  government.'  They  prevailed  and  it  has  been  tried. 

"  Its  results  have  been  the  same  as  in  Europe— drunkenness,  debauch- 
ery, vice,  crime,  riot,  communism.  In  the  rich  soil  and  genial  climate 
of  our  Government  it  bore  fruit  early,  and  in  1676  the  Government  of 
Virginia  found  it  necessary  to  protect  the  people  from  the  multitude  of 
evils  resultant  from  the  traffic  and  the  conditions  favorable  to  its  devel- 
opment. As  increasing  population,  seconded  by  wise  statesmanship, 
has  enlarged  the  nation's  borders,  it  has  grown  with  our  growth  and  in- 
creased with  our  strength  ;  it  has  been  crippled  only  where  persistent 
prohibitory  efforts  have  made  the  conditions  for  its  development  unfa- 
vorable. The  evil  has  long  been  admitted  by  all  and  a  persistent  effort 
to  remedy  it  has  been  made  by  a  few.  Compromise  has  followed  com- 
promise, the  unrestrained  sale,  license,  high  license,  civil  damage,  local 
option  ;  and  I  wish  to  assert  in  the  light  of  history  that  all  these  com- 
promises have  been  failures  to  just  the  extent  that  principle  has  been 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  D.   FINCH.  543 

sacrificed  ;  and  successes  just  to  the  extent  that  right  has  been  recog- 
nized and  prohibitory  features  incorporated  into  their -text.  Thus  this 
institution  has  been  tested  and  found  unworthy  of  a  place  in  a  free  re- 
public. It  is  an  enemy  of  American  liberties,  and  must  be  destroyed. 

Then  : 

"  '  There  shall  be  Bung  another  golden  age  : 

The  rise  of  empire  and  of  arts, 
The  good  and  great  inspiring  epic  rage, 

The  wisest  heads  and  noblest  hearts — 
NOT  SUCH  AS  EUROPE  BREEDS  IN  HER  DECAY, 

Such  as  she  bred  when  fresh  and  young, 
When  heavenly  flame  did  animate  her  clay, 

By  future  poets  shall  be  sung. 
"Westward  the  course  of  Empire  takes  its  way, 

The  first  four  acts  already  past, 
The  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day : 

Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last.1 " 

EXAMINATION  OP  THE  ISSUES  AND  DEFENCE. 

AN     ADDBESS    DELIVERED     AT     MOOBE's     OPEEA    HOUSE,     DBS    MOINE8,     IA., 
APKIL   23,    1882. 

"  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  OF  DES  MOINES  :  I  came  to  your  State  at  the 
request  of  the  old  prohibition  corps  of  the  temperance  army,  the  Good 
Templars,  who  have  fought  on  this  line  since  1851,  to  discuss  with  you 
the  question  of  what  is  the  best  thing  for  the  people  to  do  with  the  alco- 
holic liquor  traffic  of  your  State.  Your  Legislature  has  submitted  this 
question  to  you.  I  would  have  preferred  that  the  question  could  have 
been  submitted  to  every  one  who  suffers  from  the  accursed  influence 
and  effects  of  the  drink  traffic,  or  whose  heart  is  bleeding  from  its  dire- 
ful effects  ;  but  the  provisions  of  our  American  Constitution  are  such 
that  men  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  must  settle  this  question, 
while  the  great  class  who  suffer  most  from  the  evil  influences  of  the 
liquor  traffic -the  women  of  the  country — are  debarred  from  expressing 


544  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

their  opinion  in  making  the  final  verdict.  I  would  that  this  were  not 
so  ;  but  as  it  is  submitted  to  the  voters  of  this  commonwealth,  you,  as 
voters,  must  settle  the  question.  The  day  has  passed  when  a  man  can 
afford  to  laugh,  to  sneer,  or  to  jeer  at  this  question.  As  citizens  of  the 
State,  bound  by  the  highest  obligations  of  a  Christian  civilization — home 
and  love  of  country — you  are  to  take  the  question  without  passion,  with- 
out prejudice,  without  bitterness,  and  fully  consider  it  in  all  its  phases. 
This  question  is  one  that  must  be  settled  calmly  and  dispassionately. 
The  drunkard  factory  of  this  State  must  be  weighed  in  the  balance  of 
political  economy,  of  social  life.  It  must  be  weighed,  not  by  prejudiced 
men,  not  by  bitter  men,  not  by  unfair  men,  but  by  jurors  willing  to  con- 
sider each  of  the  counts  in  the  indictment  against  it,  and  then  to  render 
their  verdict  according  to  the  facts. 

"  To-night  let  us  examine  the  relations  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  this 
country  to  society  and  its  interests  ;  then,  as  you  go  from  this  hall, 
weigh  the  evidence,  and  if  your  judgment  tells  you  it  is  conclusive 
against  the  traffic,  if  your  judgment  tells  you  my  statements  are  correct, 
act  upon  them.  If  your  judgment  tells  you  my  reasoning  is  incorrect, 
reject  it.  I  would  not  'think  much  of  you  if  you  would  accept  some- 
thing as  true  because  I  said  it  was  true.  I  would  not  think  much  of 
you  if  you  would  reject  what  I  said  simply  because  a  temperance  man 
said  it.  You  are  moral,  responsible,  intelligent,  cultured  men,  and  you 
must  take  the  statements  and  weigh  them  in  the  scales  of.  your  own 
judgment,  your  own  experience,  your  own  intelligence,  and  then  make 
up  your  minds  whether  they  are  true  or  false.  The  power  of  the  liquor 
traffic  to  do  great  good  or  great  evil  to  the  commonwealth  cannot  be 
doubted.  The  immense  number  of  these  retail  shops,  the  large  number 
of  men  engaged  in  the  business  of  selling  liquor,  the  great  capital  in- 
vested in  the  manufacture  and  in  the  buildings  where  liquor  is  sold, 
make  the  business  capable  of  doing  great  good  or  great  evil  to  any  city, 
county,  State,  or  nation  where  it  is  permitted  to  exist. 

"That  this  capacity  is  always  exercised  in  the  direction  of  evil  is 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  545 

scarcely  deniable.  No  man  dares  dispute  the  pernicious  influence  of 
the  grog-shops  of  this  country. 

' '  A  few  weeks  ago  the  Chicago  Inter-  Ocean  described  a  certain  section 
in  the  city  of  Chicago,  which  is  called  the  '  Black  Hole. '  Many  of  you 
saw  the  description.  It  declared  that  in  that  section  of  the  city  the 
vicious  elements  upholding  vice  and  crime,  licentiousness,  debauchery, 
and  lewdness  were  the  governing  factors  and  the  controlling  interests. 
A  few  days  later  the  same  newspaper  published  a  diagram  of  the  streets 
of  the  city  where  the  '  Black  Hole  '  was  located.  Suppose  that  to-night 
I  should  draw  on  this  curtain  the  same  diagram.  Suppose,  further,  that 
you  had  not  seen  the  Inter-  Octan  article.  After  I  have  drawn  this  dia- 
gram I  take  the  Inter-Ocean  in  my  hands,  and,  standing  before  you,  I 
read  the  description  of  the  locality,  studiously  omitting  the  names  of 
the  places,  the  kind  of  business  carried  on  there,  and  only  speaking  of 
the  moral  and  social  condition  of  the  people.  After  I  have  read  the  de- 
scription, my  license  friend,  if  you  are  in  the  house,  I  want  you  to  tell 
me  what  kind  of  institutions  are  located  along  those  streets  ;  what  insti- 
tutions will  produce  such  a  condition  of  things. 

"  Suppose  I  told  you  that  on  the  first  corner  is  a  Methodist  church, 
then  from  there  down  to  the  next  corner  it  was  blocked  solidly  with  dry- 
goods  houses.  At  the  end  of  the  street  the  Presbyterian  Church  is 
located,  and  across  the  other  side  are  retail  houses.  Then  there  is  a 
Baptist  church,  and  on  the  other  side  are  manufactories — in  other  words, 
I  tell  you  that  that  section  of  the  city  is  filled  with  churches,  with 
schools,  and  with  business  places.  My  license  friend,  would  not  you 
say  my  statement  could  not  be  true  ?  Is  it  possible  for  such  a  state  of 
things  to  exist  where  any  respectable  business  exists  ?  Then  let  me  ask 
you  to  tell  me  what  kind  of  business  you  think  is  transacted  along  these 
streets?  Why,  you  would  answer  in  a  minute,  if  you  were  honest, 
'  Grog-shops  and  their  children,  gambling  hells  and  houses  of  ill-fame.' 
The  last  two— the  children  of  the  first— infest  the  streets.  That  is  the 
kind  of  institutions  the  Inter-  Ocean  says  are  there. 


546  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  A  few  years  ago— the  older  men  among  the  ministers  here  will  re- 
member— the  metropolitan  press  of  New  York  turned  the  public  gaze 
upon  a  section  of  that  city  controlled  by  vice,  crime,  and  immorality, 
and  when  the  public  looked  at  the  streets  where  this  horrible  state  of 
things  existed,  what  did  they  see  ?  Did  they  see  churches,  schools,  and 
business  to  produce  these  results  ?  No  !  The  centre  of  Five  Points 
was  an  old  brewery,  and  every  street  radiating  from  that  brewery  was 
crowded  with  grog-shops  and  their  attendant  institutions,  where  liquor 
was  sold  and  humanity  debased.  When  the  Christian  element  of  the 
city  wished  to  elevate  the  social  and  moral  condition  of  Five  Points,  the 
very  first  thing  they  did  was  to  buy  the  old  brewery  and  change  it  into 
a  city  mission. 

"  When  Christianity  came,  the  devil  packed  up  his  pet  institution,  to 
a  certain  extent,  and  moved  over  to  Water  Street,  and  then  Water  Street 
became  the  worst  section  of  the  city.  The  vicious  element  followed  the 
dram-shop. 

"Last  September  one  of  the  great  newspapers  of  the  city  of  Chicago 
arraigned  Mayor  Carter  Harrison  for  not  revoking  the  license  of  a  cer- 
tain liquor-dealer.  The  paper  charged  that  this  man  had  repeatedly 
violated  the  law,  and  insisted  that  the  mayor  should  have  revoked  the 
license,  and  that  his  failure  to  act  was  his  fear  of  injuring  his  political 
interests.  Mayor  Harrison,  talking  to  a  reporter,  said  that  the  accusa- 
tion of  the  paper  regarding  the  guilt  of  the  liquor-seller  and  the  failure 
to  revoke  the  license  was  true  ;  but  he  said  he  allowed  that  dram-shop 
to  continue  because  it  was  a  resort  of  thieves — it  was  a  trap  where  the 
policemen  could  find  criminals  and  catch  them,  and  he  allowed  it  to 
remain  simply  for  this  reason.  Would  he  keep  a  church  open  as  a  trap 
for  criminals  ?  I  think  not. 

"  I  was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where  the  farmers  plough  the 
land  on  three  sides  —top  and  two  sides.  One  time,  while  a  boy,  an  old 
gentleman  in  our  neighborhood  came  to  me,  and  said  :  '  See  here  !  Do 
you  want  to  go  and  hunt  foxes  with  me  to-morrow?'  I  said,  'Yes.' 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  547 

The  next  morning  he  came  with  the  hounds.  I  had  my  gun  ready,  and 
we  started  out  across  the  hills.  We  went  up  one  hill,  down  on  the  other 
side,  across  the  valley,  up  the  second  hill.  About  half-way  up  the  hill 
we  came  across  a  fox -track  in  the  snow.  It  was  what  we  were  looking 
for.  The  old  hunter  brought  the  dogs,  put  them  on  the  track,  and  away 
they  started,  along  the  range  to  the  north.  I  shouldered  my  gun  and 
started  after  them.  The  old  man  said  :  '  Where  are  you  going  ?  '  '  Going 
after  the  foxes.'  He  said,  with  a  laugh :  '  You  follow  me  ; '  and  he 
started  across  the  hill  to  the  southwest.  The  dogs  had  gone  north  ;  he 
went  southwest  ;  and  I,  without  a  word,  followed  him  over  the  top  of 
the  hill  and  part  of  the  way  down  the  other  side.  He  said  :  '  You  wait 
behind  that  stump.'  He  went  and  sat  down  behind  a  tree.  For  a  whole 
hour  I  sat  there  in  the  snow.  The  thought  commenced  to  come  into 
my  mind  that  the  old  gentleman  had  brought  me  there  to  freeze.  Just 
as  this  thought  was  taking  definite  shape,  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  from 
the  north  was  borne  the  baying  of  the  hounds.  They  came  nearer  and 
nearer.  The  fox  was  shot  in  front.  After  the  fox  was  shot  the  old 
hunter  came  up,  and  I  asked  :  '  How  did  you  know  the  fox  would  come 
here  ?  '  '  Why, '  he  answered,  '  this  is  his  runaway.  I  have  known  over 
three  hundred  foxes  killed  on  this  range,  and  I  never  knew  one  to  run 
on  this  side  of  the  hill  in  any  place  but  between  this  stump  and  that 
tree.' 

"  Every  hunter  will  tell  you  such  is  the  habit  of  many  kinds  of  game, 
and  it  is  equally  true  of  the  criminals  of  this  country.  Suppose  a  man 
should  break  into  a  store  here  to-night,  and  leave  for  Chicago  to-morrow 
— your  police  get  a  description  of  the  man,  and  telegraph  to  the  chief  of 
police  at  Chicago  to  arrest  him.  Where  would  the  Chicago  police  first 
search  for  him  ?  Would  they  go  to  the  prayer-meeting  ?  Would  they 
go  to  the  stores?  No  !  they  would  go  to  the  grog-shops,  or  to  the  prog- 
eny of  grog-shops — houses  of  ill-fame,  gambling  hells — because  this  kind 
of  game  always  seeks  this  runaway,  its  old  familiar  grounds.  Take  the 
records  of  the  courts  of  this  country,  and  they  sustain  this  charge  so 


548  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

thoroughly  that  no  one  will  dare  challenge  it.  And,  gentlemen,  before 
the  license  men  of  this  State  can  hope  to  defeat  the  amendment,  they 
must  show  that  this  charge  is  false.  If  the  liquor  traffic  of  this  country 
stimulates  crime,  if  it  stimulates  and  produces  vice,  if  it  upholds  it  and 
sustains  it,  there  is  no  argument  that  will  justify  a  man  in  voting  to 
continue  the  business.  • 

"  Again,  the  dram-shop  of  this  country  is  a  school  of  perjury.  From 
the  very  day  it  is  opened  it  makes  liars  of  men.  You  may  say  this  is  a 
strong  charge.  Indict  a  liquor-seller  in  this  town  for  violation  of  your 
liquor  law.  Your  detectives  tell  you  that  he  has  persistently  violated  it. 
Bring  him  into  court  and  put  him  on  trial.  Subpoena  from  their  houses 
in  this  city  twenty-five  men,  young  and  old,  who  have  patronized  him. 
They  come  into  court.  You  reach  out  the  Bible  ;  they  will  swear,  on 
God's  Holy  Word,  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the 
truth.  Try  to  prove  by  them  facts  which  they  know  to  be  true.  Nine- 
teen out  of  the  twenty-five  will  swear  to  a  lie  to  defend  the  man  who 
sold  them  the  liquor. 

"  One  of  these  witnesses'  is  on  the  stand  : 

' '  '  Were  you  in  that  liquor-shop  ?  ' 

"  '  I  was.' 

"  '  Did  you  buy  something  there  ?  ' 

'"I  did.' 

"  'What  was  it?' 

''  '  I  don't  know.' 

' '  '  What  did  you  call  for  ?  ' 

'"I  didn't  call.' 

"  '  Well,  what  did  you  get  ? ' 

"  '  I  don't  know.' 

' '  '  You  drank  something.     What  was  it  ?  ' 

"  '  Well,  it  might  have  been  tea,  it  might  have  been  coffee,  it  might 
have  been  lemonade  ;  I  don't  know.' 

"  Lie  ?    Of  course  he  lies. 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  549 

"Suppose  he  had  gone  into  the  saloon  and  asked  for  beer,  and  the 
bar-keeper  had  set  up  lemonade,  would  he  not  have  known  the  dif- 
ference ? 

"Suppose  he  had  asked  for  whiskey,  and  the  bartender  had  set  up 
tea,  would  he  not  have  known  the  difference  ? 

"  And  yet  that  man  comes  into  court,  and,  after  taking  his  oath  on 
God's  Truth,  deliberately  and  wilfully  perjures  his  soul,  degrades  his 
manhood,  dishonors  his  citizenship,  to  defend  the  man  who  will  take  his 
last  dollar,  make  him  a  drunkard,  and. then  kick  him  into  the  street  and 
call  him  a  druken  dead-beat !  Have  you  ever  tried  to  enforce  the  law 
against  liquor-sellers  ?  If  so,  you  know  this  to  be  true. 

"  They  everywhere  try  to  corrupt  judges,  to  suborn  witnesses,  to  de- 
feat the  ends  of  justice,  and  prevent  an  honest,  fair,  and  full  enforce- 
ment of  the  law. 

"  The  liquor  traffic  of  this  country  is  a  parasite  on  legitimate  business 
life.  The  dealers  and  their  advocates  will  tell  you,  before  this  amend- 
ment fight  is  over,  that  the  dram-shop  (in  some  way,  they  will  be  careful 
not  to  specify  how)  conduces  to  the  general  prosperity  and  the  business 
interests  of  this  State.  If  this  statement  is  true,  then  certainly  they 
have  a  good  defence  with  which  to  meet  the  indictment  against 
them. 

"  Let  us  for  a  few  moments  examine  the  theory  of  State  building,  in 
order  to  fully  understand  the  causes  of  city,  State,  and  national  pros- 
perity. 

"  A  king  from  Asia  Minor  was  one  time  visiting  a  king  of  Sparta.  In 
Asia,  in  the  early  days  of  the  world,  all  cities  were  walled,  as  a  defence 
against  enemies.  When  this  king  came  to  Sparta  and  discovered  the 
absence  of  walls,  he  was  astonished,  and  asked  the  king  of  Sparta, 
'  Where  are  the  walls  of  your  cities  ?  '  The  Spartan  ruler  answered,  '  I 
will  show  you  to-morrow.'  The  next  day  he  ordered  the  armies  of  Sparta 
to  pass  before  his  guest  in  review.  As  these  proud  freemen  marched 
by,  the  king,  touching  his  visitor  on  the  shoulder  &od  pointing  with 


550  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

pride  to  his  soldiers,  said  :  '  These  be  the  walls  of  Sparta  ;  every  man  is 
a  brick.'  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  morality,  intelligence,  and  virtue 
of  the  people  is  the  foundation  of  city,  of  county,  of  State,  and  of  Gov- 
ernment building. 

"  The  unity  of  society  is  the  individual.  If  you  wish  good  society  you 
must  build  up  the  units  of  society,  cultivate  the  institutions  and  customs 
whose  influence  and  effects  tend  to  improve  and  elevate  the  individual. 
If  Iowa  has  institutions  that  only  develop  health,  strength,  morality,  and 
intelligence,  her  future  prosperity  is  assured  ;  but  if  she  sanctions  and 
enters  into  partnership  with  institutions  which  debauch  public  morals, 
destroy  public  health,  impair  individual  credit,  stimulate  vice  and 
crime,  the  day  will  come  when,  with  a  political  system  destroyed  by 
social  debauchery,  Iowa,  as  a  Eepublican  State,  will  be  a  thing  of  the 
past.  The  laws  of  social  and  political  health  are  fixed  ;  to  violate  them 
is  to  invite  disease  and  death. 

"  '  What  constitutes  a  State  ? 

Not  high-raised  battlemeut  or  labored  mound, 
Thick  wall,  or  moated  gate  ; 

Not  cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned  ; 
Not  bays  and  broad-armed  ports, 

Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  tide  ; 
Not  starred  and  spangled  courts, 

Where  low  browed  baseness  wafts  perfume  to  pride. 
No ;  MEN,  high-minded  men, 

With  powers  as  far  above  dull  brutes  endued 
In  forest,  brake,  or  den, 

As  beasts  excel  cold  rocks  and  brambles  rude — 
Men,  who  their  duties  know — 

But  know  their  rights,  and,  Knowing,  dare  maintain, 
Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 

And  crash  the  tyrant,  while  they  rend  the  chain  ; 
These  constitute  a,  State ; 

And  sovereign  law,  that  State's  collected  will, 
O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate 

SiU  empress,  crowning  good,  repressing  til.'1 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  551 

"  The  defendants  in  this  case  have  only  to  prove  that  the  liquor  traffic 
builds  up  the  State  by  building  up  the  individuals  who  constitute  it.  If 
it  builds  up  its  patrons  socially,  financially,  intellectually,  and  morally, 
the  case  of  the  people  against  the  traffic  must  fail.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
they  fail  to  show  that  their  business  benefits  directly  their  customers, 
then  their  business  must  go.  Let  us  see  if  it  does. 

"Oar  Greenback  friends,  during  the  past  four  years,  have  told  us  a  great 
many  things  that  are  true.  One  of  the  principles  of  political  economy 
which  they  have  been  teaching  persistently,  or  rather  developing,  is  that 
there  can  be  but  two  types  of  men  in  our  social  organism — the  first  the 
producing  class — those  who,  by  their  work,  add  to  the  material  wealth 
of  the  State,  or,  at  least,  produce  enough  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
That  class  have  a  right  to  a  place  as  long  as  their  production  does  not 
injuriously  affect  the  society  in  which  they  live  ;  consequently,  they  are 
dismissed  from  consideration.  The  other  class,  the  non-producers,  are 
the  men  who  must  show  to  the  satisfaction  of  society  that  they  are  en- 
titled to  a  place  outside  the  almshouse.  All  political  economists  group 
this  second  class  into  two  sub-classes  —assistant  producers  and  parasitic 
non-producers. 

"  Let  me  illustrate.  Call  up  here  a  merchant  and  a  doctor  ;  two  of  one 
class.  Place  here  a  saloon-keeper  and  a  thief  ;  two  of  the  other  class. 
Do  not  say  I  am  making  my  point  too  strong  ;  this  is  the  teaching  of 
every  man  who  ever  wrote  a  work  on  political  economy,  and  I  am  simply 
stating  what  has  been  affirmed  by  men  who  advocate  and  believe  in 
license.  I  will  show  you.  the  difference  between  these  classes.  I  turn 
to  the  merchant,  and  say  to  him  :  '  You  receive  money  from  the  pro- 
ducers of  this  country.  You  mast  show  what  you  do  for  society,  and 
what  you  do  for  the  producer  for  the  money  you  receive.  What  do  you 
give  in  return  for  the  producer's  money  ?  '  He  answers  :  '  I  am  simply 
the  agent  of  producers.  I  act  as  their  hired  man,  to  a  certain  extent. 
The  producers  manufacture  or  grow  certain  commodities  ;  in  another 
country  other  producers  provide  other  commodities.  I  take  the  com- 


552  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH, 

modities  which  these  men  produce,  ship  to  other  producers,  and  bring 
their  products  back  for  others.'  Although  our  farmers  tried  to  abolish 
the  merchant  a  few  years  ago,  they  learned  that  the  conduct  of  commerce 
is  a  science,  and  that  the  men  who  were  novices  in  the  matter  were  illy 
fitted  to  carry  it  on.  When  we  have  examined  the  merchant,  we  find  he 
returns  equal  value  for  the  money  he  gets. 

"  We  turn  to  the  doctor,  and  say :  '  Doctor,  you  receive  money  from 
the  producers  while  you  produce  nothing  yourself.  Tell  us  what  return 
you  make  for  the  money  received.'  He  answers  :  '  The  producers  of 
this  country  do  not  take  care  of  themselves.  In  the  first  place,  many  of 
them  do  not  understand  the  laws  of  hygiene.  They  become  sick,  and  I 
am  simply  the  one  who  repairs  the  machinery."  One  time,  on  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee,  and  St.  Paul  Kailroad,  I  was  talking  with  an  hon- 
ored friend,  Mr.  Quick,  and  I  asked  him  :  '  What  is  your  business  ?  ' 
He  said  :  '  I  am  pump-doctor.'  He  was  the  hydraulic  engineer.  He 
was  the  man  who  had  charge  of  the  sick  pumps  of  this  road.  When  a 
pump  would  not  work,  he  doctored  it.  Now,  the  physician  stands  in 
the  same  relation  to  society  in  which  that  man  stands  to  the  railroad  ; 
he  is  the  one  who  repairs  the  physical  machinery  of  the  producers. 
When  we  have  examined  him  closely  in  regard  to  the  money  he  has  re- 
ceived and  the  work*  he  has  done  ;  when  we  think  how  we  have  seen 
him  standing  by  the  sick-bed  of  loved  ones,  as  hope  was  dying  out,  and 
the  only  ray  of  light  was  the  thought  that  God  gave  and  God  was  taking 
away,  and  heard  him  saying,  to  comfort  the  breaking  heart  :  '  While 
there  is  life  there  is  hope  ; '  when  the  loved  one  came  back  to  health 
and  strength,  we  took  the  money  from  our  pocket  and  willingly  paid  the 
bill  for  services  rendered.  The  physician  assists  the  producer  for  the 
money  he  receives. 

"  Next,  examine  the  others.  '  Mr.  Liquor-dealer,  you  get  the  money, 
what  do  you  give  back  for  it  ?  '  '  Whiskey  and  beer.'  '  Well,  sir,  let 
me  put  a  hypothetical  question  to  you.  Suppose  a  man  comes  into  your 
saloon  to-morrow,  and  drinks.  During  the  next  week,  the  next  month, 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  553 

the  next  year,  lie  patronizes  you.  For  ten  years  he  is  yonr  best  cus- 
tomer, giving  you  the  larger  part  of  his  earnings  and  the  greater  part  of 
his  time.  At  the  end  of  the  time  what  will  you  have  done  for  the  man 
in  return  for  the  money  he  has  given  you  ? '  If  the  liquor-seller  is  honest 
he  will  have  to  answer  :  '  He  would  have  been  better  off  if  he  had  never 
come  into  my  place.  I  have  not  only  taken  his  money,  but  I  have  cursed 
him  in  the  taking.' 

"  Try  it  again.  '  Mr.  Liquor  dealer,  suppose  a  man  with  a  family 
comes  into  your  place  and  becomes  your  patron.  At  the  end  of  five  or 
six  years  he  dies  in  front  of  your  bar  under  the  influence  of  liquor. 
What  will  you  have  done  for  his  wife  and  babies  in  return  for  the  money 
you  have  received  from  him  ?  '  Again  the  answer  must  be  :  'It  would 
have  been  better  for  that  wife  and  child  if  he  had  never  traded  with  me.' 
Do  you  see  the  difference  ?  The  merchant  says  :  '  I  benefit  him,  and 
you  see  the  benefit.'  The  drink-vender  has  to  admit  that  he  curses  him, 
and  everybody  sees  the  effect  of  the  curse. 

"  If  I  put  the  same  question  to  the  thief.  'I  give  peace  of  mind.' 
'  What  do  you  mean  ?  '  '  If  a  man  has  money  he  worries  for  fear  it  will 
be  stolen  ;  after  I  steal  it  he  soon  stops  worrying — I  do  not  injure  his 
brain,  nerves,  or  muscle.' 

"  Suppose  four  fanners  come  into  Des  Moines,  each  with  fifty  dollars 
in  his  pocket.  One  goes  to  a  dry-goods  store,  one  to  a  hardware  store, 
one  to  a  boot  and  shoe  store,  and  the  other  to  a  dram-shop,  and  each 
spends  his  money  in  the  place  he  visits. 

"  After  two  weeks  I  come  to  you  and  say  :  '  Let  us  go  and  see  those 
producers  ;  see  what  they  received  for  the  money  they  gave  those  non- 
producers.  '  We  drive  to  the  home  of  the  man  who  spent  his  money  at 
the  dry-goods  store.  '  What  did  you  get  ? '  '  Do  you  see  that  dress 
which  Nellie  is  wearing  and  that  coat  that  Tom  has  on?  Well,  I  gave 
the  merchant  fifty  dollars,  and  he  gave  me  in  exchange  these  things. 
He  is  better  off  ;  we  are  better  off.'  Exchange  of  values  ;  both  are 
benefited. 


554  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCU. 

"  We  go  to  the  man  who  traded  at  the  hardware  store,  and  we  say  : 
'  What  did  you  receive  ?  '  '  Do  you  see  the  stove,  and  the  axe,  and  those 
kettles  V  'Yes.'  '  Well,  I  gave  him  fifty  dollars  ;  he  gave  me  these. 
We  are  better  off  ;  he  is  better  off.' 

"  We  go  to  the  man  who  spent  his  money  at  the  boot  and  shoe  store. 
'  What  did  you  receive  for  the  money  you  paid  ?  '  '  You  see  these  boots 
which  I  am  wearing,  and  the  shoes  Nellie  has  on,  and  the  boots  that 
Will,  Dick,  and  Harry  and  the  rest  are  wearing?  1  gave  that  mer- 
chant fifty  dollars  for  them-.  We  needed  the  boots  and  shoes,  he 
needed  the  money,  and  we  traded.'  An  exchange  of  values  ;  both  are 
benefited. 

"  Now  we  go  to  the  man  who  spent  the  fifty  dollars  in  the  dram-shop, 
and  say  to  him  :  '  Sir,  you  paid  that  non-producer  fifty  dollars.  What 
did  you  get  back  ?  '  '  Come  here  and  I  will  show  you. '  Will  he  say 
that  ?  No  ;  he  will  hang  his  head,  and  say  :  '  I  got  this  flaming  nose, 
these  bleared  eyes,  and  have  been  sick  ever  since.' 

"  '  My  farmer  friend,  would  you  not  have  been  better  off  if  you  had 
put  the  fifty  dollars  in  the  lamp  and  burned  it,  and  never  have  gone  to 
the  drinking-place  at  all  ?  Yes  ;  because  you  would  have  had  a  clear 
head,  hard  muscles,  and  could  have  gone  to  work  at  once  and  produced 
more  wealth  to  take  the  place  of  that  destroyed.  The  liquor-dealer  took 
your  money  and  unfitted  your  brain  and  muscles  for  the  production  of 
more  wealth.' 

' '  In  the  Southern  States  you  will  see,  in  different  places,  clinging  to 
the  trees,  the  plant  known  to  botanists  as  the  mistletoe.  You  will  say  it 
is  a  beautiful  plant,  and  yet  the  botanist  will  tell  you  that  it  is  a  base 
plant.  You  ask  why  ?  Climb  up  the  tree  and  see.  What  will  you  find  ? 
The  plant  putting  its  roots  down  into  the  earth  to  suck  its  life  from  in- 
organic matter  ?  No.  It  is  thrusting  its  rootlets  into  the  bark  of  the 
tree,  sucking  its  life  from  other  life,  living  by  the  destruction  of  organic 
life.  Botanists  call  it  a  parasite.  Among  insects  you  have  the  same 
class.  Go  out  along  the  old  California  trail  in  my  own  State  or  in  Wyo- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FIXCH.  555 

ming,  anywhere  between  the  Missouri  Eiver  and  the  coast,  stop  in  one  of 
the  old  ^od  ranches  and  tell  the  keeper  of  it  that  you  want  a  bed.  Stip- 
ulate that  it  shall  be  unoccupied,  and  labor  under  the  delusion  that  you 
will  be  given  such  a  bed.  When  the  time  comes  you  disrobe,  retire, 
and  start  for  dreamland.  You  will  have  to  start  pretty  quick  to  get 
there.  Just  as  you  are  passing  over  the  border  something  starts  from 
your  foot  along  up  the  leg.  It  stops,  and  you  know  where  it  lingers. 
You  have  a  very  urgent  desire  to  put  your  hand  down  and  interview  it. 
By  the  time  you  reach  down,  there  is  something  on  your  back  and  some- 
thing on  your  side.  You  roll,  and  kick,  and  strike  ;  it  will  be  fortunate 
for  you  if  you  said  your  prayers  before  you  went  to  bed  ;  it  may  keep 
you  from  saying  something  worse  before  you  get  up.  At  last  you  can 
endure  it  no  longer  ;  you  spring  out,  light  a  lamp,  and  throw  down  the 
covering.  'See  them  run  !  the  flat-headed  cowards  ! 

"  Oh,  how  humanity  loathes  them  !  The  whole  family — mosquitoes, 
gnats,  jiggers,  cockroaches,  bed-bugs  ;  ugh  ! 

"  Come  up  higher,  to  the  highest  order  God  created  on  earth,  and  yon 
have  the  same  type.  Every  gambler  in  this  country  is  a  parasite  on 
social  and  business  life.  He  is  a  man  who,  through  the  meshes  of  his 
games,  entraps  other  men,  and  grows  rich  by  the  ruin  of  his  victims;  a 
man  who  takes  value  without  returning  an  equivalent.  Every  dram- 
shop in  this  country  bears  the  same  relation  to  society.  The  liquor- 
seller  comes  into  your  town,  locates,  commences  his  business,  and  sells 
his  wares.  What  is  the  result  ?  As  the  shingles  go  on  his  house,  they 
tumble  off  the  houses  of  his  patrons.  As  he  wears  broadcloth,  his  vic- 
tims come  to  rags.  As  he  drives  up  the  street  with  his  nice  team,  his 
victims  plod,  with  hods  on  their  shoulders,  earning  money  to  buy  the 
liquor  man  another  team. 

"  As  you  meet  the  liquor-seller's  wife,  with  her  silks  and  satins,  trip- 
ping down  the  street,  you  meet  the  victim's  wife,  scantily  clad,  carrying 
a  basket  of  clothes  she  has  washed  to  earn  money  to  buy  food  for  her 
babies.  You  meet  the  liquor-dealer's  boy  flying  his  kite,  while  his  vie- 


55 G  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  13.   FINCH. 

tim's  boy  meets  you  with  :  '  Mister,  won't  you  give  me  just  one  penny 
to  buy  bread  ?  I  am  starving.' 

"  The  license  man  objects :  '  But  the  liquor-dealers  do  not  get  rich  or 
their  wives  wear  silks  or  satins.'  True  ;  the  picture  is  what  would  really 
be  the  condition  of  the  liquor-seller's  family  but  for  the  fact  that  blood- 
money  always  curses  the  receiver.  Money  made  from  the  sale  of  liquor 
is  like  money  made  from  gambling — hard  to  keep.  But,  my  license 
friend,  is  not  my  point  strengthened  by  your  objection  ?  For,  it  being 
true,  the  liquor  traffic  curses  even  the  families  of  those  who  engage  in 
it.  It  is  a  universal  curse,  without  a  redeeming  trait. 

"  The  liquor-seller  lives  by  ruining  his  customers.  The  dram-shop  of 
this  country,  worse  than  the  devil-fish  of  Victor  Hugo,  not  only  wraps 
its  arms  around  its  victim  directly,  but  thrusts  those  insatiate  arms  into 
their  homes,  taking  the  carpets,  pictures,  books — everything  that  makes 
home  pleasant  for  wife  and  children,  and  drawing  into  its  maw  the  very 
element  that  civilizes  and  Christianizes  the  country. 

"  Suppose  that  I  could  take  all  the  money  which  the  producing  com- 
munity of  the  State  of  Iowa  could  make— I  am  not  speaking  of  the  money 
you  could  borrow  in  the  Eastern  States— but  all  the  money  you  can 
make  in  a  year.  Pile  it  here  on  the  table.  This  money  must  build  the 
homes  and  fences  ;  lay  down  the  carpets  and  buy  the  books  ;  it  must 
run  the  stores,  run  the  manufactories,  carry  on  the  newspapers,  and 
build  up  all  other  kinds  of  trade.  It  is  the  life-blood  of  commerce. 
When  you  have  it  piled  up  here,  the  lawyers,  doctors,  ministers,  mer- 
chants, newspaper  men,  and  manufacturers  gather  around.  Five  thousand 
liquor-sellers  step  forward,  and  say  :  '  More  than  nine  million  dollars  of 
that  is  ours. '  You  say  :  '  No  ; '  but  they  say  :  '  Gentlemen,  we  bought 
the  privilege  of  the  first  grab  at  it,  and  that  grab  we  are  going  to  have.' 

"  My  friend,  are  you  in  business  in  Des  Moines?  Do  you  not  know 
this  to  be  true  :  If  a  farmer  who  drinks  liquor  comes  into  this  city  with 
one  dollar  in  his  pocket  he  will  spend  it  for  grog,  and  ask  you  to  trust 
him  for  a  dress  for  his  wife  ?  Do  you  not  know  that  the  saloons  of  this 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  S.  FINCH.  557 

city  and  other  cities  are  located  on  your  principal  business  streets,  and 
that  they  sell  their  liquors  for  cash,  while  you  trust  for  the  necessaries 
of  life  ?  Do  you  sell  jewelry  ?  If  you  do,  do  you  sell  the  best  of  your 
jewelry  to  the  man  who  spends  his  money  in  grog-shops  ?  Do  you  sell 
nice  clothing  ?  How  much  do  you  sell  to  the  man  who  spends  the 
greater  part  of  his  money  in  a  drinking-place  ?  Do  you  sell  silk  dresses, 
my  friend  ?  Are  the  patrons  of  the  dram-shop  your  customers  ?  Do  you 
not  know,  business  men,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  dram-shop  unfits 
its  patrons  for  you,  and  takes  the  money  which  would  buy  nice  things 
to  beautify  the  home— buy  nice  clothes  and  good  food — leaving  the  home 
without  these  blessings  ? 

"  '  But,'  says  one,  '  the  liquor-dealer  buys  these  things.'  '  Oh,  yes, 
gentlemen  ;  but  he  is  one  where  his  patrons  are  a  hundred.  Where  you 
sell  him  one  suit  of  clothes  you  lose  the  sale  of  a  hundred  suits  to  his 
customers.  Where  you  sell  him  one  picture  to  go  into  his  home  to 
beautify  it,  you  fail  to  sell  his  customers  a  hundred  pictures  to  make 
their  homes  pleasant  for  their  children  and  families.' 

"  Take  a  leech  ;  press  all  the  blood  out  of  it.  Now  I  will  show  you  a 
trick  of  license  economy.  I  take  a  lancet,  draw  a  scratch  on  my  arm, 
and  say  to  the  leech  :  '  Suck.'  It  does.  Just  look  at  it.  It  is  growing 
respectable — it  is  getting  sleek,  and  smooth,  and  fat.  When  it  is  full, 
it  will  let  go.  There  is  this  difference  between  insect  leeches  and  human 
leeches  :  an  insect  leech  ceases  sucking  when  he  is  full,  while  a  human 
leech  will  continue  to  suck  as  long  as  there  is  any  money  in  the  pockets 
of  the  victims  or  until  he  is  choked  off. 

"  I  want  to  show  you  the  statesmanship  of  license  advocates. 

"  I  take  the  leech  and  squeeze  it  ;  two  or  three  drops  of  blood  come 
from  its  mouth  and  I  swallow  them,  and  say  I  have  gained  so  much 
blood.  Some  boy  in  this  house  cries  out : '  You  are  foolish.  Every  drop 
of  that  blood  was  in  your  body— the  leech  sucked  it  out  of  you.  You 
have  only  got  part  of  it  back,  and  that  part  in  a  way  that  will  do  you 
more  injury  than  good.'  Liquor  men  come  into  your  State,  and  the  law 


558  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

draws  a  scratch  on  your  business  life  and  sticks  them  on,  and  says  : 
'  Suck.'  See  them  change  their  clothes  !  See  them  grow  fat  as  they  live 
on  the  business  life  of  the  city  and  the  country  !  When  the  year  rolls 
around,  the  city  council  inverts  them,  and  squeezes  out  of  them  five 
hundred,  one  thousand,  or  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  says  :  '  Ha  !  ha  ! 
we  have  saved  so  much  money  to  the  city.'  But  where  did  the  liquor- 
dealer  get  the  money  ?  He  did  not  have  it  when  he  came  here.  He 
came  into  our  State,  and  without  giving  a  single  thing  of  value — without 
building  up  society,  without  helping  society,  he  has  sucked  from  it 
thousands  of  dollars.  He  keeps  the  largest  part,  and  gives  you  a  pit- 
tance to  be  allowed  to  continue.  You  take  it,  and  congratulate  your- 
selves that  you  are  dividing  up  with  the  spoiler  of  your  homes,  your 
prosperity,  and  your  civilization. 

"  Build  up  a  city,  gentlemen?  Just  as  well  build  up  a  man  by  put- 
ting lice  on  his  head  as  to  hope  to  build  up  the  material  interests  of  a 
city  by  opening  dram-shops  !  In  every  business  relation  the  liquor- 
traffic  of  the  country  is  an  institution  which  receives  value  without  re- 
turning it.  It  lives  on  society  as  parasites  live  on  other  bodies. 

"A  saloon  bears  the  same  relation  to  legitimate  business  that  abed- 
bug  does  to  a  man  who  sleeps  in  the  bed  where  the  bug  lives.  Recently 
a  lady  said  to  me  :  '  I  wish  you  would  not  use  such  horrid  comparisons.' 
I  did  not  ask  her  how  she  knew  they  were  horrid.  I  simply  said  :  '  My 
dear  madam,  if  I  should  catch  a  bed-bug  and  an  ant,  and  place  them 
here  with  microscopes  over  them,  would  you  come  and  look  at  them  V ' 
'Yes.'  'Well,  I  submit  the  bed-bug  is  prettier  than  the  ant — prettier 
body,  prettier  legs.  If  I  had  mentioned  the  ant,  you  would  not  have 
objected?'  'No.'  'Then  why  object  to  my  mentioning  the  better- 
looking  insect  ?  Is  it  not  from  simply  the  way  it  makes  its  living  ?  ' 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  you  would  admire  a  louse  as  much  as  you  do 
a  honey-bee  if  it  lived  in  the  same  way.  It  is  not  the  anatomy  of  the 
insect.  Some  of  the  parasites  are  among  the  most  beautiful  of  insects. 
It  is  the  way  they  live — by  sucking  their  life  out  of  other  life— that 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  559 

raises  the  feeling  of  disgust  and  leads  to  their  destruction.  It  is  not  a 
liquor-seller's  clothes  or  looks  which  causes  society  to  detest  him  and 
his  trade  :  it  is  the  way  he  lives  in  society— a  mere  parasite  on  business 
life.  As  the  shingles  go  on  his  house  they  fall  off  the  house  of  his  cus- 
tomer ;  as  he  and  his  family  live  easily,  in  idleness,  his  customer  and 
his  customer's  family  suffer  in  rags.  For  this  crime  of  parasitism  he  is 
on  trial. 

"  I  suppose  I  ought  to  say,  in  justice  to  myself,  that  I  never  like  to 
compare  things  unfavorably.  I  do  not  like  to  drag  anything  into  a  posi- 
tion where  it  ought  not  to  be,  and  I  feel  at  this  point  like  apologizing— 
to  the  bed-bug.  You  ask  what  I  mean  ?  I  will  tell  you.  I  never  knew 
one  bed-bug  mean  enough  to  eat  another  bed-bug,  or  one  louse  mean 
enough  to  eat  another  louse.  It  remains  for  the  last  and  highest  order, 
which  God  created  in  His  own  image,  to  develop  the  type  which  will 
live  on  their  own  kind  and  off  their  own  species  ;  who  will  fasten  the 
fangs  of  parasitic  avarice  in  the  pulsating  flesh  of  their  own  kin,  their 
own  blood,  their  own  sex,  and  their  own  race  ;  and  grow  rich,  not  by 
the  destruction  of  other  species,  not  by  the  destruction  of  other  orders, 
but  by  the  destruction  of  individuals  who  feel  the  same,  who  enjoy  the 
same,  as  they  do.  It  is  unfair  to  a  parasite  that  lives  on  other  forms  of 
life  to  compare  it  with  a  class  low  enough,  vile  enough,  to  live  on  its 
own  kind  without  a  feeling  of  sympathy,  without  a  pulsation  of  regret. 

"  Again,  the  liquor  traffic  is  the  enemy  of  home  life.  The  keystone  to 
American  civilization  is  the  American  home.  I  would  I  could  take  you 
to  the  frontier — to  the  cattle  and  mining  towns  of  this  country,  where 
home  life  is  comparatively  unknown,  and  by  ocular  demonstration  im- 
press this  fact  upon  your  minds — show  you  how  the  words  '  mother  ' 
and  '  home '  have  the  power  to  awaken  the  latent  manhood  in,  and  lead 
out  to  a  grander  and  better  life,  men  seemingly  lost  to  all  influences  for 
good.  You,  especially  you  business  men,  know  how  great  this  influence 
is  on  public  life.  The  opposition  you  meet,  the  trickery  and  fraud  you 
see  practised,  make  you  hard,  uncharitable,  cynical,  and,  when  gone 


560  TEE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

from  home  for  months,  bitter  and  selfish.  You  return  to  your  home, 
and  in  the  presence  of  wife  and  children,  hatred,  selfishness,  bitterness, 
cynicism,  vanish  like  the  cold,  clammy,  poisonous  March  fog  before  the 
morning  sun.  Home  life  and  love  is  the  sun  which  fructifies  all  the 
nobler  impulses  of  man's  nature.  Few  men  go  from  home  with  the  kiss 
of  wife  upon  their  lips  and  the  soft  touch  of  baby  fingers  lingering  in 
pleasant  memories  on  their  neck  but  feel  more  charity  for  their  fellow- 
men,  more  love  for  humanity,  and  a  renewed  desire  to  build  themselves 
up  in  all  that  pertains  to  true  manhood.  Home  is  the  moral  and  politi- 
cal conservator  of  the  nation,  the  antidote  of  communism,  socialism, 
riot,  vice,  and  bloodshed.  A  man  who  goes  from  home  with  the  soften- 
ing influences  of  womanhood's  homage  and  childhood's  love  lingering 
about  him  seldom  goes  to  murder,  rob,  or  incite  riot. 

"  Into  this  garden  of  American  hope  the  breath  of  the  liquor  traffic 
comes  like  the  hot  winds  of  the  desert.  By  the  use  of  the  things  sold 
in  the  dram-shop,  all  the  finer  feelings  of  the  husband  and  father  are 
injured  and  his  passions  stimulated,  and  from  being  the  head— the  life 
of  the  home— he  soon  becomes  a  despot  and  a  terror.  The  money 
which  should  be  'used  to  bxiy  pictures,  books,  carpets,  and  other  things 
to  make  home  pleasant  is  spent  to  still  further  lower  and  degrade  him. 

' '  A  drunkard's '  home  ' !  Can  there  be  any  greater  mockery  of  the  sacred 
word  ?  Any  institution  or  custom  which  causes  such  results  is  a  terrible 
enemy  to  American  liberty  and  civilization. 

"  Again,  the  liquor  traffic  is  the  enemy  of  an  honest  ballot  and  a  fair 
count.  The  effect  of  the  dram-shop  is  to  destroy  the  intellectual  force 
and  moral  character  of  its  patrons,  as  well  as  to  reduce  them  financially, 
often  to  beggary.  The  high  moral  sense  which  should  govern  every 
voter  is  lost  when  a  diseased  craving  for  stimulants  controls  a  man.  In 
such  a  condition  he  is  open  to  corrupt  influences,  and  comes  to  regard 
his  vote  as  a  mei'chantable  commodity  which  ought  to  bring  enough  in 
the  markets  of  corruption  to  minister  to  his  appetite  and  supply  his 
wants.  The  threat  of  the  b'rewers  in  their  late  convention  was  based 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.  FINCH.  5C1 

upon  the  knowledge  that  the  traffic  had  placed  thousands  of  men  in  such 
a  moral,  physical,  and  financial  condition  that  they  could  be  corrupted. 
The  liquor  men  have  always  boasted  of  their  political  power  obtained  in 
this  way  ;  and  many  a  candidate  has  felt  it  necessary  to  leave  money 
with  the  liquor-seller  to  influence  the  bummer  vote.  Look  at  Chicago, 
New  York,  and  other  cities.  An  honest  vote  in  some  parts  of  those 
cities  is  impossible.  '  In  what  parts  ? '  Those  where  the  dram-shops 
are  most  plentiful.  Unless  the  liquor  traffic  of  the  country  is  destroyed, 
it  will  do  for  the  whole  nation  what  it  has  done  for  the  great  centres  of 
population  ;  and  as  the  life  of  this  Government  depends  largely  on  the 
purity  of  the  ballot-box,  which  can  only  be  guaranteed  by  the  morality 
and  intelligence  of  the  individual  voter,  the  Government  must  destroy 
the  dram  shops  or  they  will  destroy  the  Government. 

"  This  is,  in  part,  the  case  for  the  people.  The  issue  raised  is  one  of 
simple  fact.  Guilty  or  not  guilty  ?  The  traffic  must  plead  to  the  in- 
dictment. If  the  charges  made  are  false,  the  amendment  should  be  de- 
feated. If  they  are  true,  it  must,  for  the  good  of  the  whole  country,  be 
carried.  Standing  on  the  street  corners,  blowing  or  bulldozing,  does 
not  meet  the  counts  in  the  indictment  against  this  villainous  social 
criminal. 

"Does  regulation  reyidaie?  These  charges  are  made  against  licensed 
dram-shops.  If  the  charges  are  true,  license  is  a  failure.  The  license 
system  of  grog-shops  is  on  trial,  and  it  will  not  benefit  liquor-sellers  to 
cry  out '  Stop  thief  ! '  with  the  idea  of  turning  public  attention  from  the 
real  issue.  Is  the  licensed  traffic  guilty  of  the  crimes  and  misdemeanors 
alleged  ?  If  it  is,  then  license  is  a  failure.  The  condition  of  things  cannot 
be  worse.  The  defendants  must  meet  the  indictment  and  show  its  counts 
false,  and  that  dram-shops  are  a  blessing,  that  license  is  a  success,  that 
they  obey  law,  that  the  liquor  traffic  purifies  the  ballot-box,  discourages 
corruption,  builds  up  society,  and  promotes  law  and  order.  If  they  can 
show  this,  their  business  is  safe.  Liquor  men.  the  voters  of  Iowa  are 
waiting  for  you  to  meet  the  facts.  Will  you  do  it,  or  dodge  and  cry, 


562  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

'  Keep  it  out  of  politics  ; '  '  Prohibition  is  a  failure  ; '  '  Beer  is  a  tem- 
perance beverage  ; '  '  Moral  suasion  is  the  way  to  work  '  ?  These  ques- 
tions are  not  involved  in  the  campaign.  The  license  system  of  grog-shops 
is  being  tried  by  its  f ecord,  and  you  must  confine  yourselves  to  the 
issues  ;  any  evasion  or  failure  to  meet  the  charges  fairly,  honestly,  and 
manfully  will  be  a  confession  of  guilt,  and  will  be  so  regarded  by  the 
people. 

"  But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  drunkard  makers  cannot  and  will  not 
try  to  explain  away  or  justify  the  record  they  themselves  have  made. 
Every  charge  made  by  the  amendment  advocates  is  true,  and  the  de- 
fence, as  outlined  by  the  brewers  of  Iowa,  is  in  keeping  with  the  nature 
and  character  of  the  traffic,  not  only  in  Iowa,  but  elsewhere.  A  telegram 
from  Dayton,  O.,  received  to-day,  says  :  '  The  Dayton  Journal  is  being 
boycotted  by  members  of  the  liquor  associations  on  account  of  its  stand 
on  the  Pond  and  Smith  bills.' 

' '  The  record  of  the  liquor  business,  the  creed  of  the  brewers,  the  ad- 
missions of  their  advocates,  show  conclusively  that  the  dram-shop  is  a 
bulldozer,  a  rebel,  a  defiant  outlaw,  which  assassinates  business,  charac 
ter,  or  life,  as  it  may  deem  best,  to  intimidate  opposition,  and  prevent 
investigation  of  its  record  and  effects.  These  cowards  are  universal 
bulldozers.  I  never  knew  the  liquor  business  to  do  a  manly  thing  in 
the  world.  I  never  knew  it  to  make  a  manly  fight.  I  never  knew  it  to 
stand  squarely  on  an  issue.  Its  whole  defence  is  a  show  of  defiance,  a 
show  of  bravado,  a  show  of  bulldozing,  a  show  of  braggadocio  ;  and 
when  these  fail,  the  defence  is  private,  cowardly  assassination.  What  is 
the  first  argument  brought  against  the  amendment  in  this  State  ?  '  You 
cannot  prohibit  the  sale  of  liquor. '  What  does  that  mean  ?  Rebellion  ! 

"  If  prohibition  will  not  prohibit,  what  is  the  cause  of  its  failure  ? 
The  women  will  obey  the  law,  the  decent  men  will  obey  the  Jaw,  and  if 
it  fails  it  will  be  because  the  liquor  outlaws  refuse  to  obey  the  will  of  the 
people.  They  are  self-confessed  traitors  to  good  government. 

"  I  tell  the  liquor  men  of  this  coiintry  that  if  they  think  they  are 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  563 

greater  than  this  Government,  the  same  thought  has  been  entertained 
by  other  men.  There  is  one  thing  more  certain  than  that— this  Govern- 
ment is  greater  than  any  class  of  rebels  :  it  can  enforce  any  law  which  a 
majority  of  this  people,  through  their  legislatures,  say  shall  be  the 
supreme  law  of  this  State.  This  must  be  taken  for  granted — that  the 
State  of  Iowa  can  enforce  any  law  that  may  be  passed  by  a  majority  in 
its  Legislature.  If  the  votes  of  the  majority  of  citizens  expressed  in  the 
statutes  of  Iowa  cannot  be  enforced  ;  if  five  thousand  saloon-keepers 
could  bulldoze  and  intimidate  the  Government  of  this  commonwealth, 
then  the  sooner  that  Government  goes  into  bankruptcy,  and  you  get  one 
which  is  good  for  something,  the  better  it  will  be  for  humanity,  civiliza- 
tion, and  liberty. 

"  Through  the  canvass  in  Kansas  the  same  thing  was  said.  They  did 
not  say  that  the  charges  made  against  the  dram-shop  were  false.  They 
said  :  '  If  you  pass  the  amendment  you  cannot  enforce  it  ; '  and,  armed 
with  bottled  beer,  they  tried  to  bulldoze  the  State.  What  was  the 
result  ? 

"  Coming  from  Topeka,  recently,  to  Kansas  City,  I  was  sitting  in  the 
seat  just  behind  the  leader  of  the  anti-Prohibitionists  of  that  State — I 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  on  the  public  platform  during  the  can- 
vass and  discussing  the  question  with  him— we  were  talking  about  other 
questions  for  a  time.  At  last  he  turned  to  me,  and  drawing  his  face 
down  as  long  as  Job's  when  he  was  in  affliction,  went  on  to  say  :  '  Finch, 
all  I  predicted  at  Bismarck  Grove  in  regard  to  this  accursed  law  has 
come  true.' 

"  '  Well,  what  is  it  ?  ' 

"'Why,'  he  said,  'it  is  killing  Kansas.  Germans  are  leaving  the 
State  by  hundreds.  It  is  driving  men  out,  and  immigration  will  not 
come.  The  State  is  dead. ' 

' '  I  said  to  him  :  '  You  have  this  consolation  :  if  the  prohibitory  law 
has  killed  your  State,  if  it  has  driven  large  numbers  out  of  it,  then  if 
Kansas  is  not  to  be  renowned  for  the  number  of  its  people,  it  will  be  re- 


564  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

nowned  for  the  sobriety,  intelligence,  and  the  morality  of  those  who 
remain.1 

"  '  Hold  on,'  said  the  gentleman  ;  '  there  is  more  whiskey  and  beer 
sold  in  Kansas  to-day  than  there  ever  was  before.  You  can  get  it  every- 
where." 

"  Looking  closely  at  him,  I  asked  :  '  For  what,  then,  are  those  men 
leaving  Kansas  ?  '  He  saw  he  was  caught,  and  abandoned  the  conver- 
sation. 

"  If  I  pick  up  a  copy. of  one  daily  paper  published  in  Chicago,  or  an- 
other from  St.  Louis,  I  frequently  see  an  editorial  saying,  in  substance, 
that  '  Kansas  is  dead  ; '  '  Immigration  to  Kansas  has  stopped  ; '  '  The 
prohibitory  law  has  killed  Kansas.'  Perhaps  the  very  next  day  I  pick 
up  a  copy  of  the  same  paper,  and  I  see  an  editorial  or  an  article  by  an 
anonymous  correspondent,  saying  :  '  "Whiskey  is  being  sold  in  every 
town  in  Kansas  just  as  free  as  water  ; '  '  There  are  more  drunkards  in 
Kansas  than  when  the  law  was  passed.' 

"  If  men  will  lie,  they  should  be  consistent  liars.  The  liars  who  are 
fighting  against  prohibition  lack  intelligence,  for  their  lies  contradict 
each  other.  In  Maine  they  have  fought  the  prohibitory  law  by  the  same 
contradictory  lying. 

"  If  the  battle  had  been  between  the  liquor  rebels  of  Kansas  and  the 
moral  citizens  of  Kansas,  there  would  not  have  been  an  open  grog-shop 
in  the  State  three  months  after  the  law  passed.  No  sooner  had  the  law 
been  passed  to  enforce  the  amendment,  than  the  combined  liquor  power 
of  this  nation  stood  behind  the  outlaws  to  encourage  them  and  help 
them  to  defy  the  supreme  law  of  that  State  ;  and  what  is  still  meaner, 
men  from  other  States  went  in  to  help  the  outlaws  assassinate  the  moral- 
ity and  the  character  of  Kansas. 

"I  remember  reading  in  one  of  the  great  newspapers  of  Chicago  a 
long  article,  saying  that  in  the  Southern  States  the  constitutional  amend- 
ments were  defied  and  the  Civil  Rights  bill  was  a  dead  letter.  The 
editor  appealed  to  the  solid  North  to  rise  en  masse  and  at  the  ballot-box 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  565 

crush  out  this  rebellion  against  the  Constitution  and  the  laws.  It  said  : 
'  When  an  article  is  in  the  Constitution,  when  statutes  have  been  passed 
to  enforce  it,  men  are  rebels  who  defy  it. '  And  yet  this  same  news- 
paper, the  Chicago  Tribune,  is  down  in  the  mud  before  the  liquor  power 
of  this  nation,  and  has  become  the  apologist  for  and  the  sympathizer 
with  the  liquor  rebels  of  Kansas.  It  advises  them  to  defy  the  supreme 
law  of  that  State  and  the  statutes  made  to  enforce  it.  Kansas'  grand 
Governor— St.  John — it  calls  every  mean  name  which  it  can  find  in  the 
drunkard-maker's  vocabulary.  Oh,  if  there  is  any  one  thing  that  would 
make  every  drop  of  blood  in  my  veins  grow  hot  with  indignation,  it  is 
the  way  that  the  opposition  meet  this  issue  !  I  know  John  P.  St.  John, 
of  Kansas.  I  have  seen  him  with  his  family,  standing,  as  he  does,  the 
grandest  ^Republican  Governor  of  the  country.  The  opposition  have  not 
met  him  like  men  ;  they  have  called  him  everything  that  was  vile,  at- 
tempted to  assassinate  his  character,  traduce  him,  and  continue  to  tra- 
duce him  ;  and  men  who  ought  to  be  in  a  better  business  have  become 
tools  of  the  liquor  rebels  to  carry  on  this  dirty  work. 

' '  Can  the  liquor  business  be  stopped  ?  Men  of  Iowa,  there  is  no  need 
of  asking  that  question  here.  When  the  saloon  men  stand  up  and  say 
prohibition  will  not  prohibit,  and  that  the  traffic  cannot  be  stopped,  I 
answer  :  '  I  know  better. '  The  idea  of  five  thousand  liquor-dealers 
being  able  to  control  this  State  is  absurd.  When  I  hear  a  man  or  find  a 
newspaper  whimpering  and  crying,  '  It  ought  to  be  stopped,  but  we  can- 
not stop  it  ;  they  will  sell  anyhow,'  I  get  disgusted,  especially  in  this 
State,  settled  by  old  soldiers.  Some  of  you  men,  a  few  years  ago,  left 
your  State,  your  mothers,  wives,  and  children,  and  went  down  to  the 
Southern  land,  and  there,  in  the  face  of  cannon — and  you  knew  that 
behind  those  guns  were  brave  men  fighting  for  what  they  believed  to  be 
right,  as  you  were  fighting  for  what  you  believed  to  be  right — in  face  of 
the  sheeted  fire  and  leaden  hail,  where  death  was  on  every  breeze,  you 
fought,  suffered,  and  bled.  For  what  ?  Just  simply  to  say  this  Govern- 
ment was  able  to  hold  itself  together,  to  enforce  its  laws,  and  to  live. 


566  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH. 

"  The  idea  that  in  this  State,  filled  with  men  who  wear  the  scars  of 
honorable  battle — scars  which  were  obtained  in  strife  that  makes  them 
honored  throughout  the  world— the  idea  of  these  men  getting  down  to 
whimper,  and  say  :  '  The  State  cannot  enforce  the  law  ! ' 

"  A  Union  general  was  riding  up  to  the  rear  of  his  forces  at  the  battle 
of  Antietam,  when  he  saw  from  the  front  ranks  a  tall  soldier  start,  and, 
in  double-quick  time,  make  his  way  to  the  rear.  The  general  was  aston- 
ished, and,  looking  at  him  for  a  moment,  said  :  '  Halt,  sir.  Go  back  to 
your  regiment. ' 

"  The  fellow  stopped,  commenced  to  cry,  and  said  :  '  General,  I  can't  ; 
I  am  a  coward,  and  I  told  them  I  was  a  coward  when  they  drafted  me 
into  the  army. ' 

"  '  Well,'  said  the  general,  '  if  I  was  a  coward  I  would  not  be  a  great 
baby.  Go  back,  sir. ' 

"  '  Well,  I  wish  I  was  a  baby,  and  a  gal  baby  at  that.' 

"  Ridiculous  !  Yes  ;  but  is  it  half  as  ridiculous  as  for  men,  who  are 
the  commonwealth  of  Iowa,  to  go  whimpering  around,  '  It  ought  to 
be  stopped,  but  we  cannot  stop  it  ;  they  will  see,  anyhow '  ?  '  Mr. 
Liquor- seller,  you  are  in  a  mighty  mean  business — you  are  ruining 
homes— you  are  making  criminals — you  are  filling  jails — you  are  crowd- 
ing almshouses — you  are  breaking  the  Sabbath— you  are  damning  souls  ; 
but  we  cannot  stop  you — you  will  sell  anyhow.  Please  give  us  five 
hundred  dollars  with  which  to  build  sidewalks  in  our  cities. ' 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  Government  is  greater  than  any  of  its 
vices.  When  any  of  its  vices  become  greater  in  force,  the  Government 
will  die.  When  any  class  of  men  is  able  to  defy  the  Government  suc- 
cessfully, then  it  becomes  the  autocrat.  If  you  grant  that  the  liquor- 
dealers  of  this  State  are  greater  in  power  in  the  State,  then  you  grant 
that  Iowa  has  ceased  to  exist  as  a  commonwealth  and  has  become  an 
oligarchy  of  the  liquor  traffic.  The  supreme  power  of  the  State  is  the 
Government,  and  if  the  dram-shops  have  power  greater  than  it  exerts, 
the  State  is  merely  a  puppet  in  the  hands  of  a  vital,  aggressive,  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  567 

active  force.  The  threat  of  the  Iowa  brewers,  the  threat  of  the  Iowa 
distillers,  is  an  open  declaration  that  the  State  of  Iowa  is  not  able  to 
control  them,  and  that  they  propose  to  control  the  State.  The  question, 
as  it  conies  to  you,  is  simply  :  '  Will  you  be  men  ;  will  you  assert  your 
power  to  consider  the  question  on  its  merits  and  settle  it,  or  will  you  be 
bulldozed— will  you  be  intimidated— will  you  be  corrupted,  and  sell 
your  birth  right  for  a  mess  of  pottage? ' 

"  This,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  the  case  as  I  wish  to  present  it  to 
you  ;  take  it  to  your  homes  ;  think  over  it  fairly,  fully,  honestly  ;  and 
when  you  render  your  verdict,  have  these  two  things  in  mind  :  1st.  Your 
obligations  to  your  own  homes— your  own  families.  2d.  Your  obliga- 
tions as  citizens  of  a  State,  to  protect  all  homes,  all  families,  all  citizens. 

"  The  temperance  question  was  never  so  dear  to  me— the  cause  never 
seemed  so  much  my  own,  although  I  always  loved  it — as  it  was  after  the 
little  bright-eyed  boy  came  into  my  home.  When  he  comes  and  climbs 
on  my  knee,  puts  his  chubby  little  arms  around  my  neck,  and  calls  me 
'  papa,'  the  thought  comes  to  me,  '  Will  there  ever  be  the  time  when  my 
boy  will  reel  along  the  street  a  drunkard,  wear  the  chains  of  a  criminal, 
or  die  in  the  almshouse,  as  the  result  of  drink  ? '  And  so,  if  I  could  vote 
in  your  State  in  June,  I  should  just  ask  what  would  be  the  relation  of 
the  grog-shop  to  that  boy  of  mine. 

"  You  may  say,  '  I  have  no  boys  ;  I  have  girls.' 

"  A  gentleman,  some  years  ago,  came  into  my  office,  and  said  to  me  : 
'  What  are  the  divorce  laws  of  this  State  ? ' 

' '  I  said  :  '  I  hope  you  are  not  going  to  apply  for  a  divorce.  It  is  an 
exceedingly  disagreeable  kind  of  litigation.' 

"  A  couple  of  ladies  had  come  in  with  him.  I  saw  one  was  an  old 
lady  with  gray  hair,  the  other  young,  with  care  lines  visible  in  her  face, 
and  a  look  of  mental  misery  and  suffering  there. 

"  '  I  have  one  girl,'  the  man  said,  and  he  introduced  me  to  her,  '  the 
light  of  our  home  ;  and  if  she  is  here,  I  want  to  say  to  you  she  is  just  as 
good  a  girl  as  God  ever  gave  »  father.  She  was  always  kind  to  her 


568  THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.    FINCH. 

mother.  There  never  was  a  time  when  it  was  necessary  to  punish  her 
in  our  home  ;  if  she  did  wrong,  she  was  ready  to  come  and  ask  forgive- 
ness. She  married  a  man  I  thought  to  be  worthy  of  her.  We  did  not 
know  he  drank,  but  it  was  so.  Five  years  ago  they  were  married.  God 
has  given  them  one  child.  The  father  drank  more  and  more.  My 
daughter  did  not  tell  me  for  a  long  time  ;  she  would  not  let  us  know 
how  she  was  suffering.  One  night  her  husband  went  home,  and  in  a 
drunken  rage  knocked  her  down  with  a  chair.'  The  old  man  stepped 
forward,  raised  the  hair  from  her  forehead,  and  showed  the  scar. 
'  Struck  her,'  continued  the  father,  '  struck  her  like  a  brute,  the  man 
who  had  sworn  to  love  and  honor  her.  He  took  her — the  light  of  our 
home— from  our  arms,  and  then  abused  her  like  a  dog.' 

"  Gentlemen  voters,  such  may  be  your  story  some  day.  The  little  girl 
who  will  come  to  you  to  night  with  bright  eyes  and  loving  smile,  who 
will  run  and  bring  the  slippers  to  papa,  may  some  day  return  to  you 
with  a  broken  heart,  her  life  ruined  by  a  man  who  has  been  wiecked  in 
the  salootis,  if  you  vote  to  continue  them.  When  you  make  up  your 
verdict,  take  into  consideration  your  home  interests  and  heart  interests. 

"  There  is  one  thing,  however,  important  as  are  these  interests,  that 
is  still  higher :  the  thought  of  how  God  would  have  you  act.  Dare  you 
go  to  the  polls  on  June  27th  and  cast  a  vote  that  you  cannot  ask  God 
to  bless  ?  My  friends,  as  you  go  there  and  vote,  think  if  you  in  the 
silence  of  your  chamber  can  ask  God  to  bless  the  vote.  If  you  vote  to 
continue  the  drunkard  factories,  of  course  you  are  willing  to  pray  God 
to  prosper  them,  to  ask  that  their  customers  may  increase. 

"  So,  if  I  were  on  the  jury,  I  would  take  into  consideration  my  home 
interests,  the  interests  of  my  country,  the  approval  of  my  God,  and  then, 
examining  the  facts,  I  would  vote  either  to  shut  the  saloons  or  to  con- 
tinue them,  as  my  judgment  and  conscience  dictated. 

"  Gentlemen,  when  you  have  written  your  verdict  on  June  27th, 
it  will  either  roll  Iowa  up  to  the  plane  of  the  civilization  of  Kansas 
and  Maine,  or  allow  her  to  remain  down  in  the  old  darkness  of  com- 


THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  B.   FINCH.  569 

promise  and  partnership  with  wrong.  God  grant  that  Iowa  may  lead 
the  way  through  which  my  State  and  the  other  parts  of  this  Republic 
may  follow,  until  in  all  the  galaxy  of  American  States  there  shall  not  be 
one  that  will  license  a  business  to  ruin  its  citizens,  to  debauch  its  moral- 
ity, or  to  break  down  its  institutions. 

"  '  The  crisis  is  upon  us  !  face  to  face  with  us  it  stands, 

With  solemn  lips  of  questioning,  like  the  Sphinx  in  Egypt  sands, 
This  day  we  fashion  destiny,  the  web  of  life  we  spin, 
This  day  for  all  hereafter  choose  we  holiness  or  sin. 
Even  now  from  misty  Gerizim,  or  Ebal's  cloudy  crown, 
Call  we  the  dews  of  blessing  or  the  bolts  of  cursing  down.'  " 


SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


• 


Form  L9- 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  893  737     7 


